title: The immune system in menopause: pros and cons of hormone therapy.
abstract: With aging, a general decline in immune function is observed leading to immune-senescence. Several of these changes are gender specific affecting postmenopausal women. Menopause is a normal part of a woman's lifecycle and consists of a series of body changes that can last from one to ten years. It is known that loss of sex hormones due to aging results in a reduction of immune functions. However, there remains a major gap in our understanding regarding the loss of immune functions particularly in the female reproductive tract (FRT) following menopause and the role of menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) in protecting against immune senescence. The current review presents an overview of changes in the immune system due to aging, focusing on genital tract immunity in menopausal women and the risks and benefits of using MHT. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled 'Menopause'.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, The George Washington University, Washington, DC 20037, USA. Electronic address: mghosh@gwu.edu.
authors.forename: Mimi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ghosh
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Neurobiology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH 03756, USA.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rodriguez-Garcia
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Neurobiology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH 03756, USA.
authors.forename: Charles R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Wira
mesh_terms: D056704:Adaptive Immunity / Q000187:drug effects; D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging / Q000276:immunology*; D000818:Animals; D004958:Estradiol / Q000502:physiology; D015914:Estrogen Replacement Therapy; D005260:Female; D005836:Genitalia, Female / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology; D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones / Q000172:deficiency; D006801:Humans; D007107:Immune System / Q000187:drug effects / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007113:Immunity, Innate / Q000187:drug effects; D007239:Infections / Q000276:immunology; D008593:Menopause / Q000276:immunology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011374:Progesterone / Q000502:physiology; D014611:Vaccination / Q000009:adverse effects
chemical_list: D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones; D011374:Progesterone; D004958:Estradiol
keywords: Estrogen; Female reproductive tract; HIV; Immunity; Menopausal hormone therapy; Menopause; Progesterone
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