title: Liver gender dimorphism--insights from quantitative morphology.
abstract: It was shown recently that many genes are differentially expressed in the liver of males and females, thus strengthening the concept of liver gender dimorphism. This dimorphism exists in many pathological scenarios, from regeneration to fibrosis, which has led to the development of gender hepatology. Nevertheless, it is still unknown if gender dimorphism occurs in the structure of the normal liver. In recent years, it has been shown that, compared with male, the female rat liver bears less fibrotic tissue, more Kupffer cells (per volume unit) and has higher hepatocellularity, including binucleated hepatocytes (per volume unit). Our hypothesis is that the human liver also hides a gender dimorphic pattern. Baseline differences in fibrotic tissue would contribute to explain severe liver fibrosis in men. As to the disparity of Kupffer cells, this would clarify the stronger response to post-surgery infections in women, and it could be equated when appraising the higher susceptibility to alcohol. Regarding differences in hepatocytes, they not only justify existing differences in some liver parameters (e.g., transaminases and bilirubin), but they could also account for the higher regenerative potential of the female liver. The structural dimorphism in the human liver would sustain the concept of gender hepatology and, eventually, should be considered in the context of liver transplantation.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar, University of Porto, ICBAS-UPorto, Porto, Portugal. rmarcos@icbas.up.pt.
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Marcos
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology Research Unit, Future Farming Systems, Scotland's Rural College (SRUC), Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Carla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Correia-Gomes
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar, University of Porto, ICBAS-UPorto, Hepatic and Pancreatic Transplantation Unit, Santo António General Hospital, Centro Hospitalar do Porto and Institute of Public Health of University of Porto (ISPUP), Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Miranda
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology of the University of Porto (IPATIMUP), Department of Pathology and Oncology, Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto (FMUP), and Department of Pathology, Centro Hospitalar S. João, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Fatima
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Carneiro
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000648:ultrastructure; D006801:Humans; D007728:Kupffer Cells / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008099:Liver / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000166:cytology; D008297:Male; D012727:Sex Characteristics