title: A new hypothesis of the possible mechanisms of gender differences in systemic lupus erythematosus.
abstract: Numerous studies have suggested that sex hormones, especially oestrogens, can contribute to the onset and development of the disease activities of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and this seems to be associated with the gender bias of SLE. In fact, there is significant evidence of the inductive effects of oestrogens on autoimmune-related immune responses, such as the production of antibodies, cytokines, and autoantigens including human endogenous retroviruses (HERV). The higher susceptibility to oestrogens in patients with SLE may be regulated by quantitative/qualitative abnormalities of oestrogen receptors (ERs) and different immune responsiveness to oestrogens in SLE patients in comparison to normal controls. In addition to previous findings, this report reviewed and discussed possible the mechanisms of gender bias of SLE based on results obtained by recently developed technologies such as DNA microarray methods.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Juntendo University Urayasu Hospital, Chiba, Japan. sekigawa@juntendo-urayasu.jp
authors.forename: Iwao
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sekigawa
authors.forename: Maki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fujishiro
authors.forename: Ayako
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.forename: Mikiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kawasaki
authors.forename: Akihiro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Inui
authors.forename: Kazuhisa
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nozawa
authors.forename: Yoshinari
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takasaki
authors.forename: Kennji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takamori
authors.forename: Hideoki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ogawa
mesh_terms: D020077:Endogenous Retroviruses / Q000276:immunology*; D004967:Estrogens / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D012727:Sex Characteristics
chemical_list: D004967:Estrogens