1. Sex and bacterial infectious diseases
- Author
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Florence Bretelle, Jean-Louis Mege, Marc Leone, Microbes évolution phylogénie et infections (MEPHI), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Service de gynécologie-obstétrique [Conception], and Université de la Méditerranée - Aix-Marseille 2-Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Marseille (APHM)-Hôpital de la Conception [CHU - APHM] (LA CONCEPTION)
- Subjects
Paper ,0301 basic medicine ,Female sex hormones ,Inflammatory response ,Physiology ,[SDV.MHEP.GEO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Human health and pathology/Gynecology and obstetrics ,Microbiology ,lcsh:Infectious and parasitic diseases ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,[SDV.MHEP.MI]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Human health and pathology/Infectious diseases ,estradiol ,BACTERIAL INFECTIOUS DISEASES ,Female patient ,gender ,sex ,Medicine ,lcsh:RC109-216 ,ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS ,Bacteria ,business.industry ,Confounding ,030208 emergency & critical care medicine ,[SDV.MP.BAC]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Microbiology and Parasitology/Bacteriology ,Response to treatment ,infection ,3. Good health ,Sexual dimorphism ,030104 developmental biology ,Infectious Diseases ,business ,Hormone - Abstract
Most infectious diseases are unequally distributed between male and female subjects. This sex dimorphism is confirmed by epidemiologic studies which suggest an increased number of male septic patients, while, due to the class age of septic patients, an overrepresentation of female patients would be expected. Lifestyle, recreational activities, professional exposition and access to care are plausible reasons for this dimorphism. However, biological differences should be carefully considered, particularly the weight of X-linked variability and the role of sex hormones. Animal models clearly show that clinical response to infection is more exuberant in males than in females. This is partly explained by an attenuation of the inflammatory response by female sex hormones. However, the translation from experimental studies to the bedside remains challenging as a result of confounding factors like age, hormone changes and response to treatment. Keywords: Bacteria, estradiol, gender, infection, sex
- Published
- 2018