Female mice are more susceptible to the development of allergic airway inflammation than male mice

Abstract

Female mice develop a more pronounced type of allergic airway inflammation than male mice after OVA challenge. The reduced percentage of regulatory T cells in the lungs of female PBS-mice may indicate that the level of these cells in the lung during the sensitization phase is important for the development and/or progression of an allergic immune response after multiple OVA challenges.

Incorporating a gender dimension in food allergy research: a review

“…Receptors for sex steroids have been identified on lymphocytes, monocytes and mast cells (26,27). A recent study tested the hypothesis that female mice are more susceptible to the development of allergic asthma than male mice and studied allergic immune responses in the lung (28). The results demonstrated that female mice developed a more pronounced type of allergic airway inflammation than male mice after ovalbumin aerosol challenge.…”

Male sex hormones promote vagally mediated reflex airway responsiveness to cholinergic stimulation

“…In particular, total lung capacity and enhanced pause (Penh) responses to methacholine aerosol have been reported to differ in naïve male and female mice (19,22,24). Importantly, we recently observed a considerable sex difference in murine airway responsiveness to cholinergic stimulation, as assessed by invasive measurement of respiratory mechanics, wherein the airways of naïve male C57BL/6 and BALB/c mice were found to be considerably more sensitive to methacholine aerosol than were those of naïve females (4).…”

Response to “Disparity between vitamin A-induced Th1-dependent oral tolerance in newborn mice and vitamin A-induced atopic sensitization in Guinean girls”

“…3 Thus, we found a protective effect in a mouse model associated with higher risk of atopy in humans.…”

“…2 University Nice Sophia-Antipolis, EA6302 Immune Tolerance Team (TIM), Nice, France and 3 The International Inflammation 'in-FLAME' Network, Worldwide Universities Network. Correspondence: V Verhasselt (verhasselt@unice.fr)…”