Stronger inflammatory/cytotoxic T-cell response in women identified by microarray analysis.

ABSTRACT: Women develop chronic inflammatory autoimmune diseases more often than men. The mechanisms causing the increased susceptibility are incompletely understood. Chronic immune stimulation characterizes many autoimmune disorders. We hypothesized that repeated stimulation may cause a different T-cell response in women than in men. Microarrays were used to compare gene expression in T cells from healthy men and women with and without repeated stimulation. Four days after a single stimulation, only 25% of differentially expressed, gender-biased genes were expressed at higher levels in women. In contrast, after restimulation, 72% were more highly expressed in women. Immune response genes were significantly over-represented among the genes upregulated in women and among the immune response genes, th

SUBMITTER: Hewagama A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2735332 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature