Clinical Simulation Center, The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA 17 033, USA.
Biobehavioral Laboratory, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Nursing, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
Exp Biol Med (Maywood). 2021 Jun;246(12):1400-1409. doi: 10.1177/15353702211003858. Epub 2021 Apr 1.
Asthma is a chronic inflammatory lung disease affecting approximately 7.7% of the US population. Sex differences in the prevalence, incidence, and severity of asthma have been widely described throughout the lifespan, showing higher rates in boys than girls before puberty, but a reversed pattern in adults. Asthma is often associated with atopy, i.e. the tendency to develop allergic diseases, and can be worsened by environmental stimuli and/or exercise. While not exclusive to patients with asthma, exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB) is a common complication of athletes and individuals who exercise regularly. Currently, there is limited research on sex differences in EIB and its relationship with atopy and asthma in men and women. In this minireview, we summarize the available literature on this topic. Overall, the collective knowledge supports the notion that physiological changes triggered during exercise affect males and females differently, suggesting an interaction among sex, exercise, sex hormones, and atopic status in the course of EIB pathophysiology. Understanding these differences is important to provide personalized management plans to men and women who exercise regularly and suffer from underlying asthma and/or atopy.
哮喘是一种慢性炎症性肺部疾病，影响着大约 7.7%的美国人口。从整个生命周期来看，哮喘的患病率、发病率和严重程度存在性别差异，在青春期前男孩的发病率高于女孩，但在成年后则相反。哮喘通常与特应性有关，即发生过敏疾病的倾向，并且会因环境刺激和/或运动而加重。虽然并非仅限于哮喘患者，但运动诱发的支气管收缩（EIB）是运动员和经常锻炼者的常见并发症。目前，关于男性和女性中 EIB 及其与特应性和哮喘的关系的性别差异的研究有限。在这篇迷你综述中，我们总结了这一主题的现有文献。总的来说，现有知识支持这样一种观点，即运动过程中触发的生理变化会对男性和女性产生不同的影响，这表明在 EIB 病理生理学过程中，性别、运动、性激素和特应状态之间存在相互作用。了解这些差异对于为经常运动且患有潜在哮喘和/或特应性的男性和女性提供个性化的管理计划非常重要。
