title: Gender disparity in chronic hepatitis B: Mechanisms of sex hormones.
abstract: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a common human pathogen transmitted worldwide, and its chronic infection is a well-known risk factor for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The sex disparity of HBV-related liver diseases has been noticed for a long time, which could be attributed to sex hormone effects, other than gender behaviors or environmental impact. This difference is experimentally confirmed in HBV transgenic mice, as well as in immunocompetent mice receiving hydrodynamic delivery of HBV. Androgen and estrogen pathways were identified to play opposite regulations of HBV transcription by targeting viral enhancer I at molecular level. In addition to the direct effects on HBV life cycle, sex hormones may be also involved in the immune response to HBV infection and the progression of associated liver diseases, although the detailed mechanisms are still unclear. Besides, several unaddressed issues such as HBV entry, microRNA profiles, viral integration, and adaptability in which androgen and estrogen axes might be involved are warranted to be delineated. The comprehensive understanding of the sex disparity in HBV virology and pathogenesis will be helpful to provide newly biomarkers for clinical diagnosis and develop novel drugs to manage HBV-related HCC patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University, College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Sheng-Han
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University, College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.|NTU Center for Genomic Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University, College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.|Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University, College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.|Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University, College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Pei-Jer
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University, College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.|NTU Center for Genomic Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University, College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Shiou-Hwei
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Yeh
mesh_terms: D000728:Androgens / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000209:etiology; D004967:Estrogens / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000235:genetics; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics; D012307:Risk Factors; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D016662:Virus Integration
chemical_list: D000728:Androgens; D004967:Estrogens; D035683:MicroRNAs
keywords: androgen; androgen receptor; estrogen; estrogen receptor α; hepatitis B virus