Center of Excellence on Neurodegenerative Diseases of the University of Milan, Milan 20133, Italy; Department of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences, University of Milan, Milan 20133, Italy.
Centro Cardiologico Monzino IRCCS, Milan 20138, Italy.
Cell Rep. 2018 Jun 19;23(12):3501-3511. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2018.05.048.
Sex has a role in the incidence and outcome of neurological illnesses, also influencing the response to treatments. Neuroinflammation is involved in the onset and progression of several neurological diseases, and the fact that estrogens have anti-inflammatory activity suggests that these hormones may be a determinant in the sex-dependent manifestation of brain pathologies. We describe significant differences in the transcriptome of adult male and female microglia, possibly originating from perinatal exposure to sex steroids. Microglia isolated from adult brains maintain the sex-specific features when put in culture or transplanted in the brain of the opposite sex. Female microglia are neuroprotective because they restrict the damage caused by acute focal cerebral ischemia. This study therefore provides insight into a distinct perspective on the mechanisms underscoring a sexual bias in the susceptibility to brain diseases.
性别在神经疾病的发生和结果中起着一定作用，也会影响治疗效果。神经炎症参与了多种神经疾病的发生和发展，而雌激素具有抗炎作用，这表明这些激素可能是决定大脑病变表现出性别差异的一个因素。我们描述了成年雄性和雌性小胶质细胞转录组的显著差异，这些差异可能源于围产期暴露于性激素。从小鼠大脑中分离出来的小胶质细胞在培养或移植到异性大脑中时，仍保持着性别特异性特征。雌性小胶质细胞具有神经保护作用，因为它们限制了急性局灶性脑缺血引起的损伤。因此，这项研究为理解大脑疾病易感性的性别偏向的潜在机制提供了一个独特的视角。
