Researchers have found that testosterone hindered an immune cell linked to asthma symptoms, such as inflammation and mucus production in the lungs.
Women are twice as likely as men to have asthma, and this gender difference may be caused by the effects of sex hormones on lung cells. Researchers at Vanderbilt University and Johns Hopkins found that testosterone hindered an immune cell linked to asthma symptoms, such as inflammation and mucus production in the lungs. The study in human cells and rodents appears November 28 in the journal Cell Reports.
“When we started this study, we really thought that ovarian hormones would increase inflammation, more so than testosterone making it better,” says senior author Dawn Newcomb, of the Vanderbilt University Medical Center. “I was surprised to see that testosterone was more important in reducing inflammation.”
