title: Sex effect in mouse and human prion disease.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: 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.
authors.forename: Corinne
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Loeuillet
authors.forename: Pierre-Yves
authors.initials: PY
authors.lastname: Boelle
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lemaire-Vieille
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Baldazza
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Naquet
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chambon
authors.forename: Marie-France
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Cesbron-Delauw
authors.forename: Alain-Jacques
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Valleron
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gagnon
authors.forename: Jean-Yves
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Cesbron
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D000728:Androgens; D000072002:Prion Proteins; D011328:Prions; C512657:Prnp protein, mouse