Sex hormones and the immune response in humans

Bouman, Annechien; Heineman, Maas Jan; Faas, Marijke M.

doi:10.1093/humupd/dmi008

Cited by 952 publications

(858 citation statements)

References 165 publications

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“…Our findings of both increased innate immunity and decreased testosterone levels in runners lends further support to the considerable literature on relationships between testerone and immune function (Bouman, 2005). …”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Short‐term resource allocation during extensive athletic competition

Longman

Prall

Shattuck

et al. 2017

American J Hum Biol

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ObjectivesFollowing predictions from life history theory, we sought to identify acute trade‐offs between reproductive effort (as measured by psychological arousal) and somatic maintenance (via functional measures of innate immunity) during conditions of severe energetic imbalance.MethodsSixty‐six male ultramarathon runners (ages 20 to 37 years) were sampled before and after a lengthy race. Saliva and sera were collected for testosterone and immunological analyses (hemolytic complement activity and bacterial killing ability). Lean body mass was assessed by bioelectrical impedance, and libido was measured using a slideshow of arousing and neutral images.ResultsFollowing predictions, there was a significant decrease in salivary testosterone levels (109.59 pg/mL versus 97.61 pg/mL, P < .001) and arousal scores in response to provocative images (5.40 versus 4.89, P = .001) between prerace and postrace time points. Additionally, participant bacterial killing ability (P = .035) and hemolytic complement activity (P = .021) increased between prerace and postrace.ConclusionsDecreased libido and testosterone with concomitant heightened innate immune responses suggest a shift in energetic priorities away from reproduction and toward maintenance/defense during a period of energetic stress.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Short‐term resource allocation during extensive athletic competition

Longman

Prall

Shattuck

et al. 2017

American J Hum Biol

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“…The existing research has pointed toward a female advantage in immune protection, mainly due to the immunosuppressive effects of progesterone and testosterone and the immunoenhancing effects of estrogens (Bouman et al 2005;Pennell et al 2012;Giefing-Kröll et al 2015). The incidences of many bacterial, viral, parasitic, and fungal infectious diseases (e.g., leptospirosis, brucellosis, rabies, leishmaniasis, pulmonary tuberculosis, hepatitis A, meningococcal and pneumococcal infections, and seasonal influenza) were found to be substantially higher, and some infectious diseases were shown to be more severe in men than in premenopausal women (Giefing-Kröll et al 2015).…”

Section: Effects Of Sex Hormones On the Immune Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex Differences in Health and Survival

Oksuzyan

Gumà

Doblhammer

2018

A Demographic Perspective on Gender, Family and Health in Europe

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“…There is evidence that 17␤-estradiol directly modulates the development and function of immune cells, although the mechanism by which this might occur is not well understood (5,6). The primary mechanism of 17␤-estradiol activity is mediated by transcription activity of the intracellular estrogen receptors (ERs), ER␣ and ER␤, to produce genomic effects (7).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Autoantibodies to estrogen receptor α interfere with T lymphocyte homeostasis and are associated with disease activity in systemic lupus erythematosus

Colasanti¹,

Maselli²,

Conti³

et al. 2012

Arthritis & Rheumatism

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Objective. Estrogens influence many physiologic processes and are also implicated in the development or progression of numerous diseases, including autoimmune disorders. Aberrations of lymphocyte homeostasis that lead to the production of multiple pathogenic autoantibodies, including autoantibodies specific to estrogen receptor (ER), have been detected in the peripheral blood of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). This study was undertaken to assess the presence of both anti-ER␣ and anti-ER␤ antibodies in sera from patients with SLE, to analyze the effect of these antibodies on peripheral blood T lymphocyte homeostasis, and to evaluate their role as determinants of disease pathogenesis and progression.Methods. Anti-ER antibody serum immunoreactivity was analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in samples from 86 patients with SLE and 95 healthy donors. Phenotypic and functional analyses were performed by flow cytometry and Western blotting.Results. Anti-ER␣ antibodies were present in 45% of the patients with SLE, whereas anti-ER␤ antibodies were undetectable. In healthy donors, anti-ER␣ antibodies induced cell activation and consequent apoptotic cell death in resting lymphocytes as well as proliferation of anti-CD3-stimulated T lymphocytes. A significant association between anti-ER␣ antibody values and clinical parameters, i.e., the SLE Disease Activity Index and arthritis, was found.Conclusion. Our data suggest that anti-ER␣ autoantibodies interfere with T lymphocyte homeostasis and are significantly associated with lupus disease activity.The involvement of estrogens, which influence many physiologic processes, has been shown in the development or progression of several autoimmune disorders (1-4). There is evidence that 17␤-estradiol directly modulates the development and function of immune cells, although the mechanism by which this might occur is not well understood (5,6). The primary mechanism of 17␤-estradiol activity is mediated by transcription activity of the intracellular estrogen receptors (ERs), ER␣ and ER␤, to produce genomic effects (7). A variety of cellular responses to physiologic concentrations of 17␤-estradiol occur rapidly, within seconds to a few minutes. These rapid estrogen-mediated effects (referred to as nongenomic) are triggered through the activation of membrane-associated ER and are independent of transcription pathways and protein synthesis.

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Sex hormones and the immune response in humans

Cited by 952 publications

References 165 publications

Short‐term resource allocation during extensive athletic competition

Short‐term resource allocation during extensive athletic competition

Sex Differences in Health and Survival

Autoantibodies to estrogen receptor α interfere with T lymphocyte homeostasis and are associated with disease activity in systemic lupus erythematosus

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