ROLA PŁCI W PATOGENEZIE, PRZEBIEGU I ODPOWIEDZI NA LECZENIE STWARDNIENIA ROZSIANEGO.

Multiple sclerosis (MS), like most autoimmune diseases, affects women more commonly than men. The prevalence of the disease is much greater in women and tends to follow a different clinical course than it follows in the affected male population. There is also a female preponderance of relapsing-remitting (RR) MS (female to male ratio of 3:1), whereas in primary progressive (PP) MS men are affected as frequently as women are. Among the factors that affect the MS differences in immunological response in men and women, the role of sex and steroid hormones and gender-associated genetic factors are considered. Widely observed changes in disease activity in women during pregnancy, as well as the influence of menstrual cycle, oral contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy on the disease may confirm the role of sex hormones in susceptibility and pathogenesis of MS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]