Estrogen Signaling Contributes to Sex Differences in Macrophage Polarization during Asthma.

ABSTRACT: Allergic asthma is a chronic Th2 inflammation in the lungs that constricts the airways and presents as coughing and wheezing. Asthma mostly affects boys in childhood and women in adulthood, suggesting that shifts in sex hormones alter the course of the disease. Alveolar macrophages have emerged as major mediators of allergic lung inflammation in animal models as well as humans. Whether sex differences exist in macrophage polarization and the molecular mechanism(s) that drive differential responses are not well understood. We found that IL-4-stimulated bone marrow-derived and alveolar macrophages from female mice exhibited greater expression of M2 genes in vitro and after allergen challenge in vivo. Alveolar macrophages from female mice exhibited greater expression of the IL-4Rα and estroge

SUBMITTER: Keselman A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5576568 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature