Osman M
Department of Child Health, Aberdeen AB25 2ZD, Scotland, UK.
Arch Dis Child. 2003 Jul;88(7):587-90. doi: 10.1136/adc.88.7.587.
Clear sex differences exist in asthma and atopy with a preponderance of boys before puberty. There is a reversal of this sex ratio during puberty with girls having more asthma and atopy throughout the reproductive years. Elucidating the reasons for the switch in the sex ratio should provide fresh insights into asthma and atopy with a real prospect of novel therapies for these troublesome diseases. The challenge is to match the epidemiology and physiology with the accumulating scientific knowledge on gender differences in immune responses. Hormonal changes have been implicated in the reversal of the sex ratio. Testosterone is an immunosuppressant and is likely to be protective, while female sex steroids are proinflammatory and will increase the susceptibility to atopy. Modified so as to be non-virilising/feminising, sex steroids could therefore play a useful part in modulating the immunological and inflammatory processes that underlie asthma and other allergic disorders, complementing the currently used glucocorticoid derived steroids.
哮喘和特应性疾病存在明显的性别差异，青春期前男孩更为常见。青春期期间这种性别比例发生逆转，在整个生育期女孩患哮喘和特应性疾病的更多。阐明性别比例转变的原因应该能为哮喘和特应性疾病提供新的见解，并为治疗这些棘手疾病带来新疗法的切实前景。挑战在于将流行病学和生理学与免疫反应中性别差异方面不断积累的科学知识相匹配。激素变化与性别比例的逆转有关。睾酮是一种免疫抑制剂，可能具有保护作用，而雌性激素具有促炎作用，会增加患特应性疾病的易感性。经过修饰以避免产生男性化/女性化作用的性激素，因此可能在调节哮喘和其他过敏性疾病潜在的免疫和炎症过程中发挥有益作用，作为目前使用的糖皮质激素类固醇的补充。
