Never men - women are equal in the immune system

There are men and women who can be equal, but if you talk about the immune system . never.

Dr. Maya Saleh, McGill University's Institute of Medicine, Canada, demonstrated in her research that women have a much stronger immune system than men . In fact, the production of female estrogen hormones is very effective in fighting the germs that cause inflammation. Her findings were published in the Canadian Academy of Sciences Newsletter.

Especially estrogen produced by women seems to prevent the formation of an enzyme called Caspase-12, which inhibits inflammation. The presence of estrogen is therefore very beneficial for innate immunity, expressed in the body's first line of defense against pathogenic bacteria. ' This shows that women have better anti-inflammatory responses than men, ' explains Saleh.

(Artwork: Fotolia)

Studies conducted on mice showed that the lack of a Caspase-12 gene meant that mice were very good at fighting most infections. If implanted in both male and rat mice the human Caspase-12 gene, only male mice tend to be infected, female mice do not. ' We were surprised by this result, and we believe that estrogen produced by female mice disabled the transplanted Caspase-12 gene ' - Dr Saleh explained - ' We can also identify it. the position where estrogen receptors combine with this gene to neutralize it, proving that hormones work directly . '

Because experiments are conducted with human genes, researchers consider these results to be applicable to humans. They argue that the innate immune system of women has been forced to evolve to protect their reproductive function. Interestingly, not only is natural estrogen resistant to infection, but synthetic estrogens like 17-beta estrafiol also work.

The team's new findings open a door to new therapies to further enhance women's immunity.

There is only one question left: Can men 'benefit' from a hormone-specific cure for women as sex hormones?