Asthma Has a Gender Link and Testosterone Could be Used for Severe Asthma Treatment

It is a well known fact that women are more prone and have more severe attacks of asthma when compared to men. This has been an enigma with no well known explanation.

Animal model studies have shown that sex hormones such as estrogen and testosterone has influence on how the inflammation of the airways occurs in asthma.

‘New research shows the gender link to asthma and throws light on why women suffer more from asthma. It is possible that testosterone may have protective affect on the airways and maybe used in the treatment of severe asthma among women.’

But how does estrogen and testosterone affects the pathways that is triggered due to eosinophils and neutrophils entering the lungs in asthma.

In the recent issue of the Journal of Immunology, Dawn C. Newcomb and colleagues have reported that testosterone decreased type 2, eosinophilic and IL-17A, neutrophilic responses, whereas ovarian hormones increased these responses in a mouse model of airway inflammation.

These new findings thrown more light and the possible reason why women have a higher prevalence rate and suffer from asthma. It is also possible that testosterone derivatives could be used to treat patients with more severe types of asthma.



Source: Eurekalert