The different innate immune response to infections in males and females emerges before birth

IF 5.2 2区医学 Q1 MEDICINE, RESEARCH & EXPERIMENTAL

Life sciences Pub Date : 2025-03-04 DOI:10.1016/j.lfs.2025.123521

Valentina Margarita , Valeria Lodde , Paola Rappelli , Laura Doro , Andrea Montella , Pier Luigi Fiori , Ilaria Campesi

{"title":"The different innate immune response to infections in males and females emerges before birth","authors":"Valentina Margarita , Valeria Lodde , Paola Rappelli , Laura Doro , Andrea Montella , Pier Luigi Fiori , Ilaria Campesi","doi":"10.1016/j.lfs.2025.123521","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Aim</h3><div>Sex-specific immune responses to intra-amniotic infections remain poorly understood despite their key role in preterm birth.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>We infected male and female amniotic fluid cells (AFCs) with <em>M. hominis</em> to explore the potential impact of sex-specific innate immune responses, evaluating the gene and protein expression levels of IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, TNF-α, TLR2 and TLR4, the production of nitrites, and the levels of selected miRNAs.</div></div><div><h3>Key findings</h3><div>The gene expression of <em>IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, TNF-α</em>, and <em>TLR2</em> were elevated in infected females AFCs, while only <em>IL-6, IL-8</em> and <em>TLR4</em> expression were up-regulated in infected males. Protein levels of IL-6, TNF-α and TLR2 were up-regulated exclusively in infected females. Furthermore, infected female AFCs produced higher levels of nitrites. MiRNA expression revealed an up-regulation of miR-29a-3p in infected females, and miR-223-3p in infected males, with miR-29b-3p showing up-regulation in both sexes upon infection.</div></div><div><h3>Significance</h3><div>The response to intrauterine infections differs between males and females. Female foetuses may possess a greater capacity to manage the infection and inflammation, underscoring the importance of personalized prenatal care.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18122,"journal":{"name":"Life sciences","volume":"369 ","pages":"Article 123521"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Life sciences","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0024320525001559","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"MEDICINE, RESEARCH & EXPERIMENTAL","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Aim

Sex-specific immune responses to intra-amniotic infections remain poorly understood despite their key role in preterm birth.

Methods

We infected male and female amniotic fluid cells (AFCs) with M. hominis to explore the potential impact of sex-specific innate immune responses, evaluating the gene and protein expression levels of IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, TNF-α, TLR2 and TLR4, the production of nitrites, and the levels of selected miRNAs.

Key findings

The gene expression of IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, TNF-α, and TLR2 were elevated in infected females AFCs, while only IL-6, IL-8 and TLR4 expression were up-regulated in infected males. Protein levels of IL-6, TNF-α and TLR2 were up-regulated exclusively in infected females. Furthermore, infected female AFCs produced higher levels of nitrites. MiRNA expression revealed an up-regulation of miR-29a-3p in infected females, and miR-223-3p in infected males, with miR-29b-3p showing up-regulation in both sexes upon infection.

Significance

The response to intrauterine infections differs between males and females. Female foetuses may possess a greater capacity to manage the infection and inflammation, underscoring the importance of personalized prenatal care.

Abstract Image

查看原文本刊更多论文

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Life sciences 医学-药学

CiteScore

12.20

自引率

1.60%

发文量

841

审稿时长

6 months

期刊介绍： Life Sciences is an international journal publishing articles that emphasize the molecular, cellular, and functional basis of therapy. The journal emphasizes the understanding of mechanism that is relevant to all aspects of human disease and translation to patients. All articles are rigorously reviewed. The Journal favors publication of full-length papers where modern scientific technologies are used to explain molecular, cellular and physiological mechanisms. Articles that merely report observations are rarely accepted. Recommendations from the Declaration of Helsinki or NIH guidelines for care and use of laboratory animals must be adhered to. Articles should be written at a level accessible to readers who are non-specialists in the topic of the article themselves, but who are interested in the research. The Journal welcomes reviews on topics of wide interest to investigators in the life sciences. We particularly encourage submission of brief, focused reviews containing high-quality artwork and require the use of mechanistic summary diagrams.