Department of Molecular Biology and Immunology, Molecular Infection Immunology, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Bernhard-Nocht-Straße 74, 20359, Hamburg, Germany.
Semin Immunopathol. 2019 Mar;41(2):213-224. doi: 10.1007/s00281-018-0722-9. Epub 2018 Oct 23.
Parasitic infections modulate the immune system of the host, resulting in either immune tolerance or the induction of pro-inflammatory defense mechanisms against the pathogen. In both cases, sex hormones are involved in the regulation of the immune response, as they are present in the systemic circulation and can act on a wide variety of cell types, including immune cells. Men and women have a different milieu of sex hormones, and these hormones play a role in determining immune responses to parasitic infections. Men, who have higher plasma levels of androgens than women, are generally more susceptible to parasitic infections. Many immune cells express the androgen receptor (AR), and the immunologic functions of these cells can be modulated by androgens. In this review, we will highlight the immune cell types that are sensitive to male steroid hormones and describe their roles during three parasitic diseases, amebiasis, leishmaniasis, and helminthiasis.
寄生虫感染会调节宿主的免疫系统，导致免疫耐受或诱导针对病原体的促炎防御机制。在这两种情况下，性激素都参与了免疫反应的调节，因为它们存在于全身循环中，可以作用于包括免疫细胞在内的多种细胞类型。男性和女性具有不同的性激素环境，这些激素在决定对寄生虫感染的免疫反应方面发挥作用。男性的雄激素水平高于女性，因此通常更容易感染寄生虫。许多免疫细胞表达雄激素受体（AR），这些细胞的免疫功能可以被雄激素调节。在这篇综述中，我们将重点介绍对男性类固醇激素敏感的免疫细胞类型，并描述它们在三种寄生虫病（阿米巴病、利什曼病和寄生虫病）中的作用。
