Mechanisms of sex hormones in autoimmunity: focus on EAE

Authors

Ninaad Lasrado, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
Ting Jia, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Chandirasegaran Massilamany, University of Nebraska- Lincoln & CRISPR Therapeutics, CambridgeFollow
Rodrigo Franco, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
Zsolt Illes, University of Southern DenmarkFollow
Jay Reddy, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow

ORCID IDs

http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6762-2654

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2020

Citation

Lasrado et al. Biology of Sex Differences (2020) 11:50 https://doi.org/10.1186/s13293-020-00325-4

Comments

The Author(s). 2020

Abstract

Sex-related differences in the occurrence of autoimmune diseases is well documented, with females showing a greater propensity to develop these diseases than their male counterparts. Sex hormones, namely dihydrotestosterone and estrogens, have been shown to ameliorate the severity of inflammatory diseases. Immunologically, the beneficial effects of sex hormones have been ascribed to the suppression of effector lymphocyte responses accompanied by immune deviation from pro-inflammatory to anti-inflammatory cytokine production. In this review, we present our view of the mechanisms of sex hormones that contribute to their ability to suppress autoimmune responses with an emphasis on the pathogenesis of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.