Frequent viral diseases in men are associated with the male sex hormone
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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Recently, experts have found that the presence of a large amount of testosterone in the male body has an effect on the immune response to vaccination against influenza. Scientists believe that it is because of this that men more often fall ill with various infectious diseases.
Specialists from Stanford University conducted a number of studies and concluded that in men with an increased testosterone level, protective antibodies to influenza vaccine are activated much more slowly, compared to women, as well as men who have a significantly lower testosterone level.
Research conducted by scientists for two years during periods when seasonal vaccination against the influenza virus was conducted . Volunteer participants in the study were 34 men and 53 women of different ages. As a result of the survey, scientists found that the response of immunity to influenza vaccine in women was an order of magnitude higher than that of men. Before the vaccination, scientists took blood samples from all volunteers, which allowed to establish how the genes responsible for immunity in each of the subjects work.
As it turned out, the male immune system gave a weaker response to vaccination against influenza. In men, the level of expression of genes that regulated metabolic processes was usually high enough, and testosterone is responsible for the work of such genes. Further tests showed that the higher the level of the male hormone in the body, the weaker the response of the immune response to inflammation.
By the way, experts have long established that men have higher risks of getting fungal, parasitic, bacterial infections. It was also found that male immunity does not react as strongly as female vaccination against such diseases as influenza, yellow fever, measles, hepatitis and a number of other infectious diseases. A new study of specialists from the United States explains this phenomenon. Women in the blood have a higher level of proteins, which produce immune cells to detect inflammation and activate the body's defenses. Earlier studies in animals have shown that testosterone has anti-inflammatory properties, so perhaps the male sex hormone has a direct link to the immune response of the body. However, scientists failed to establish a link between the level of anti-inflammatory proteins in the body and the body's response to infection or vaccination against viral diseases. In addition, scientists suggest that the immune response of the body reduces not the testosterone itself, but the process of interaction with a certain set of genes, which reduces the body's ability to resist and suppress the spread of infection in the body.
This kind of research is the first one that allowed to establish a connection between the level of hormones, the expression of genes and the immune response of the human body. However, scientists in the future plan to learn how to influence the ability of testosterone to suppress the body's immune response to inflammation.
Recall that recently, students said that the excess testosterone causes aggressive and antisocial behavior.
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