Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición, S.Z., Vasco de Quiroga 15, CP. 14000, México.
Curr Top Med Chem. 2011;11(13):1728-35. doi: 10.2174/156802611796117540.
Traditionally the role of sexual steroid hormones was focused primarily on reproductive organs: the breast, female reproductive tract (uterus, mammary gland, and ovary), and male reproductive tract (testes, epididymis and prostate), however our current understanding of tissue-specific effects of sex steroids has elucidated new aspects in its functionality. Recent data have shown that many other tissues are targets of those hormones in addition to classical reproductive organs. The pancreas (which performs both endocrine and exocrine functions), has proven to be an extragonadal target of sexual steroid hormone action. The endocrine pancreas has a pivotal role on carbohydrate homeostasis and deterioration in function produces diabetes. Diabetes is a metabolic disorder that has high prevalence worldwide, particularly in developing countries. It has been shown that steroid hormones have an important role in susceptibility and development of diabetes in animal models, in humans its role is less clear, however the most evident effect is on the perimenopausal women, in this stage the decrease in gonadal steroids produces an increase on susceptibility to develop diabetes mellitus; in men, hypoandrogenism is associated with an increased prevalence of insulin resistance. This review focused on the effects of sexual steroids on pancreatic function and diabetes.
传统上，性激素的作用主要集中在生殖器官上：乳房、女性生殖道（子宫、乳腺和卵巢）和男性生殖道（睾丸、附睾和前列腺），然而，我们对性激素在组织特异性方面的作用的理解已经阐明了其功能的新方面。最近的数据表明，除了经典的生殖器官外，许多其他组织也是这些激素的作用靶点。胰腺（具有内分泌和外分泌功能）已被证明是性激素作用的性腺外靶器官。内分泌胰腺在碳水化合物稳态中起着关键作用，其功能恶化会导致糖尿病。糖尿病是一种代谢紊乱疾病，在全球范围内发病率很高，特别是在发展中国家。已经表明，甾体激素在动物模型中对糖尿病的易感性和发展起着重要作用，但其在人类中的作用尚不明确，但最明显的影响是在围绝经期妇女，在这个阶段，性腺激素的减少会增加患糖尿病的易感性；在男性中，低雄激素血症与胰岛素抵抗的患病率增加有关。这篇综述重点介绍了性激素对胰腺功能和糖尿病的影响。
