Testosterone may be one reason why men don’t get asthma as much as women
The male sex hormone keeps immune cells in mice lungs from revving up an allergic reaction
Testosterone may tamp down asthma caused by inhaling pollen, dust or other airborne allergens. That’s partly why more women suffer from the lung disease than men, new research suggests.
The male sex hormone acts on a group of immune cells that are part of the first line of the body’s defense against invaders. These cells are thought to kick-start inflammation in the lungs, which causes airways to narrow during an asthma attack. In mice exposed to an allergen, testosterone reduced the inflammatory response, researchers report in the Nov. 28 Cell Reports.
“How male and female sex hormones can affect the immune system is important for understanding the molecular and cellular basis of sex differences in diseases like asthma,” says Nicola Heller, an immunologist at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine not involved in the study. Such findings may lead to new treatments and ways to manage symptoms, she says.
Nationally, more than 18 million adults and 6 million children have asthma, according to 2015 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One clue that sex hormones play a role in the disease — which causes wheezing, shortness of breath and coughing — comes from asthma rates. As children, boys are more likely than girls to have asthma. But around puberty, when sex hormones shift into high gear, the balance begins to change. By midlife, women are more likely to suffer from asthma than men.