Testosterone treats allergies and inflammatory processes
Last reviewed: 16.10.2021
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Scientists have long known that men suffer less from inflammatory diseases than women. However, it was only thanks to the latest research that Dr. Carlo Pergola from the Jena University Pharmaceutical Institute found out how important sex hormones are from this point of view.
He proved that testosterone makes men less susceptible to diseases involving inflammation, and allergies. The researchers specifically tested during the tests how the male and female cells react differently to the inflammatory stimulus. Thus, female immune cells produced almost twice as many inflammatory substances as similar cells in men.
In order to identify the cause of this pattern, experts isolated male and female immune cells and checked in vitro the activity of enzymes responsible for the production of inflammatory substances. In male cells, the enzyme phospholipase D was less active than in female cells. However, when testosterone was added to the female cells, the activity decreased.
From this it was concluded: male sex hormones are extremely important in terms of modulating the immune response. This moment also explains the fact that testosterone can protect a man from arteriosclerosis.