Sex effect in mouse and human prion disease.
Sex effect on the incubation period of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) disease in human and ME-7 murine models was investigated. In the 167 vCJD cases reported in the United Kingdom as of January 2009, age at onset was significantly lower in female patients (by 2 years) than in male patients after stratification on birth cohort. In C57/Bl6N mice infected with ME-7 scrapie strain, incubation was shorter in female than in male mice. The incubation period increased in castrated male mice after intraperitoneal infection but not after intracerebral inoculation. In the absence of androgen receptors, the incubation period for prion disease increased after intraperitoneal inoculation. In ovariectomized or estrogen receptor alpha-defective female mice, no effect was observed on the incubation period of mouse prion disease. These results show that androgens influence the prion diseases incubation period after inoculation at a peripheral site.
Loeuillet
Corinne
C
Laboratoire Adaptation et Pathogénie des Micro-organismes, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Unité Mixte de Recherche (UMR) 5163-Université Joseph Fourier, Grenoble, France.
Boelle
Pierre-Yves
PY
Lemaire-Vieille
Catherine
C
Baldazza
Marie
M
Naquet
Philippe
P
Chambon
Pierre
P
Cesbron-Delauw
Marie-France
MF
Valleron
Alain-Jacques
AJ
Gagnon
Jean
J
Cesbron
Jean-Yves
JY
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000728:Androgens / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D002369:Castration; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D055256:Infectious Disease Incubation Period; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D017096:Prion Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology*; D000072002:Prion Proteins; D011328:Prions / Q000008:administration & dosage; D012737:Sex Factors
D000728:Androgens; D000072002:Prion Proteins; D011328:Prions; C512657:Prnp protein, mouse