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Review
. 2018 Oct 4:9:2279.
doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2018.02279. eCollection 2018.

Sex Hormones in Acquired Immunity and Autoimmune Disease

Vaishali R Moulton  1
Affiliations
Review

Sex Hormones in Acquired Immunity and Autoimmune Disease

Vaishali R Moulton. Front Immunol. .

Abstract

Women have stronger immune responses to infections and vaccination than men. Paradoxically, the stronger immune response comes at a steep price, which is the high incidence of autoimmune diseases in women. The reasons why women have stronger immunity and higher incidence of autoimmunity are not clear. Besides gender, sex hormones contribute to the development and activity of the immune system, accounting for differences in gender-related immune responses. Both innate and adaptive immune systems bear receptors for sex hormones and respond to hormonal cues. This review focuses on the role of sex hormones particularly estrogen, in the adaptive immune response, in health, and autoimmune disease with an emphasis on systemic lupus erythematosus.

Keywords: SLE; autoimmune disease; estrogen; hormones; immune response.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic of mechanisms of estrogen action on cellular responses. Genomic and non-genomic, ligand dependent and ligand-independent, classic and non-classic receptor mediated estrogen-estrogen receptor signaling pathways are shown.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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