Pernis Alessandra B
Department of Medicine, Columbia University, New York, New York 10032, USA.
Curr Opin Rheumatol. 2007 Sep;19(5):414-20. doi: 10.1097/BOR.0b013e328277ef2a.
Many autoimmune rheumatic autoimmune disorders predominantly affect women. Sex hormones, in particular estrogen, can influence CD4 T-helper development and function. We highlight recent studies that begin to provide insights into the mechanisms by which estrogen modulates CD4 T-cell development and function, and thus potentially contribute to disease pathogenesis.
High levels of estrogen can lead to thymic atrophy. Recent studies showed that this phenomenon results from effects of estrogen at multiple stages in early T-cell development. Estrogen is also known to affect mature CD4 T-cell function, and, in particular, their ability to produce selected cytokine profiles. The mechanisms by which estrogen can exert these effects were also recently explored and shown to include effects on expression of critical molecules known to be involved in these processes.
Dissecting the molecular pathways employed by estrogen to modulate CD4 T cells will be critical in elucidating the manner by which estrogen exerts its effects on this compartment. Given that cell type specific differences underlie the ability of many hormonal therapies to exert tissue-specific estrogenic or antiestrogenic activities, this knowledge will be crucial to further exploitation of hormonal therapies in rheumatic autoimmune diseases.
许多自身免疫性风湿性疾病主要影响女性。性激素，尤其是雌激素，可影响CD4辅助性T细胞的发育和功能。我们重点介绍了最近的一些研究，这些研究开始深入了解雌激素调节CD4 T细胞发育和功能的机制，从而可能对疾病发病机制产生影响。
高水平的雌激素可导致胸腺萎缩。最近的研究表明，这种现象是雌激素在早期T细胞发育的多个阶段产生作用的结果。雌激素还已知会影响成熟CD4 T细胞的功能，特别是它们产生特定细胞因子谱的能力。最近也对雌激素发挥这些作用的机制进行了探索，结果表明其作用机制包括对已知参与这些过程的关键分子表达的影响。
剖析雌激素调节CD4 T细胞所采用的分子途径对于阐明雌激素对这一细胞群体发挥作用的方式至关重要。鉴于许多激素疗法发挥组织特异性雌激素或抗雌激素活性的能力存在细胞类型特异性差异，这一知识对于在风湿性自身免疫性疾病中进一步开发激素疗法至关重要。
