title: Gender specific medicine in liver diseases: a point of view.
abstract: Gender medicine focuses on the patho-physiological, clinical, prevention and treatment differences in diseases that are equally represented in men and women. The purpose of gender medicine is to ensure that each individual man and woman receives the best treatment possible based on scientific evidence. The concept of "gender" includes not only the sexual characteristics of individuals but also physiological and psychological attributes of men and women, including risk factors, protective/aggravating effects of sexual hormones and variances linked to genetics and corporal structures that explain biological and physiological differences between men and women. It is very important to consider all the biological, physiological, functional, psychological, social and cultural characteristics to provide patients with individualized disease management. Herein, we critically analyze the literature regarding gender differences for diseases and acquired conditions of the most representative hepatic pathologies: primary biliary cirrhosis, autoimmune hepatitis, primary sclerosing cholangitis, non alcoholic fatty liver disease and alcoholic liver disease, and viral chronic hepatitis B and C. The last section addresses hemochromatosis, which is a prevalent iron overload disorder in the Caucasian population. This review aims to describe data from the literature concerning viral chronic hepatitis during pregnancy, management during pregnancy and delivery, and new effective drugs for the prevention of maternal infection transmission without significant adverse effects or complications.
authors.affiliation: Marilena Durazzo, Paola Belci, Alessandro Collo, Vanessa Prandi, Erika Pistone, Maria Martorana, Roberto Gambino, Simona Bo, Department of Medical Sciences, University of Turin, 10126 Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Marilena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Durazzo
authors.affiliation: Marilena Durazzo, Paola Belci, Alessandro Collo, Vanessa Prandi, Erika Pistone, Maria Martorana, Roberto Gambino, Simona Bo, Department of Medical Sciences, University of Turin, 10126 Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Belci
authors.affiliation: Marilena Durazzo, Paola Belci, Alessandro Collo, Vanessa Prandi, Erika Pistone, Maria Martorana, Roberto Gambino, Simona Bo, Department of Medical Sciences, University of Turin, 10126 Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Collo
authors.affiliation: Marilena Durazzo, Paola Belci, Alessandro Collo, Vanessa Prandi, Erika Pistone, Maria Martorana, Roberto Gambino, Simona Bo, Department of Medical Sciences, University of Turin, 10126 Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Vanessa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Prandi
authors.affiliation: Marilena Durazzo, Paola Belci, Alessandro Collo, Vanessa Prandi, Erika Pistone, Maria Martorana, Roberto Gambino, Simona Bo, Department of Medical Sciences, University of Turin, 10126 Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Erika
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pistone
authors.affiliation: Marilena Durazzo, Paola Belci, Alessandro Collo, Vanessa Prandi, Erika Pistone, Maria Martorana, Roberto Gambino, Simona Bo, Department of Medical Sciences, University of Turin, 10126 Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Martorana
authors.affiliation: Marilena Durazzo, Paola Belci, Alessandro Collo, Vanessa Prandi, Erika Pistone, Maria Martorana, Roberto Gambino, Simona Bo, Department of Medical Sciences, University of Turin, 10126 Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gambino
authors.affiliation: Marilena Durazzo, Paola Belci, Alessandro Collo, Vanessa Prandi, Erika Pistone, Maria Martorana, Roberto Gambino, Simona Bo, Department of Medical Sciences, University of Turin, 10126 Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bo
mesh_terms: D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D057285:Precision Medicine; D011247:Pregnancy; D011379:Prognosis; D065840:Protective Factors; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors
keywords: Alcoholic liver disease; Autoimmune hepatitis; Gender; Liver disease; Non alcoholic fatty liver disease; Primary biliary cirrhosis; Viral chronic hepatitis B; Viral chronic hepatitis C