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Review
. 2015 Sep 3:6:14.
doi: 10.1186/s13293-015-0033-y. eCollection 2015.

Sex differences in metabolic homeostasis, diabetes, and obesity

Franck Mauvais-Jarvis  1
Affiliations
Review

Sex differences in metabolic homeostasis, diabetes, and obesity

Franck Mauvais-Jarvis. Biol Sex Differ. .

Abstract

There are fundamental aspects of the control of metabolic homeostasis that are regulated differently in males and females. This sex asymmetry represents an evolutionary paradigm for females to resist the loss of energy stores. This perspective discusses the most fundamental sex differences in metabolic homeostasis, diabetes, and obesity. Together, the role of genetic sex, the programming effect of testosterone in the prenatal period in males, and the activational role of sex hormones at puberty produce two different biological systems in males and females that need to be studied separately. These sex-specific differences in energy homeostasis and metabolic dysfunction represent an untested source of factors that can be harnessed to develop relevant sex-based therapeutic avenues for diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and obesity.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Sex dimorphism in energy metabolism at the level of the gametes. The male spermatozoa (left) share only their genes. The female, by way of the fertilized egg (right), provides not only her genes but also the energy stores and the nutrients contained in the cytosol of the egg and the mitochondria
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Summary of sex dimorphisms in metabolic homeostasis, diabetes, and obesity. The left panel represents the males and the right panel the females
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Proposed mechanism for sexual differentiation of metabolism. Perinatal exposure to testosterone in female rodents and primates can program multiple tissues involved in metabolic homeostasis. This could lead to a sexual differentiation or masculinization of metabolic homeostasis
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
The male and female biological systems. The combined influence of the genetic sex, the organizational effect of the testosterone surge, and the activational role of sex hormones at puberty define two different genetic and biological systems in males and females
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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