title: Gender difference in tumor necrosis factor-α production in human neutrophils stimulated by lipopolysaccharide and interferon-γ.
abstract: The gender difference in tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) production in human neutrophils stimulated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and interferon-γ (IFN-γ) was explored by using peripheral blood neutrophils from young men and women. As compared with female neutrophils, male neutrophils released greater amounts of TNF-α, and exhibited stronger activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase in response to LPS stimulation. LPS-induced TNF-α production was markedly enhanced by pretreatment of cells with IFN-γ, and IFN-γ-mediated priming in male neutrophils was significantly greater than that in female neutrophils. Male neutrophils showed higher expression of TLR4, but not IFN-γ receptors, than female neutrophils, and its expression was increased by stimulation with IFN-γ or IFN-γ plus LPS. These findings indicate that male neutrophils show higher responsiveness to stimulation with LPS and IFN-γ than female neutrophils, and suggest that the gender difference in neutrophil responsiveness to LPS and IFN-γ is partly responsible for that in the outcome of sepsis, in which premenopausal women show a favorable prognosis as compared with men.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Osaka City University, Graduate School of Medicine, Asahi-machi, Abeno-ku, Osaka 545-8585, Japan.
authors.forename: Megumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aomatsu
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: Emiko
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kasahara
authors.forename: Seiichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kitagawa
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004958:Estradiol / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000378:metabolism*; D017471:Receptors, Interferon / Q000378:metabolism; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects; D051197:Toll-Like Receptor 4 / Q000378:metabolism; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D055815:Young Adult; D000096743:Interferon gamma Receptor
chemical_list: D004958:Estradiol; D007371:Interferon-gamma; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D017471:Receptors, Interferon; D051197:Toll-Like Receptor 4; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D000096743:Interferon gamma Receptor; C495345:TLR4 protein, human
keywords: Gender; Interferon-γ; Lipopolysaccharide; Neutrophil; Tumor necrosis factor-α