Estrogens are responsible for the development of autoimmune diseases and promote their prevalence in women, according to the results of a study. study published in the medical journal The journal of Clinical Investigation.
When the immune system malfunctions, it is possible that it attacks the body and causes autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, thyroiditis, lupus or myasthenia gravis. Women are more affected by autoimmune diseases. The cause of this phenomenon could be explained by estrogen, female sex hormones which would play a preponderant role in these mechanisms.
Estrogen promotes the decrease in AIRE protein
Inserm researchers conducted a study to try to explain the difference in the prevalence of autoimmune diseases between men and women.
They particularly focused on the AIRE protein (for AutoImmune REgulator), which plays a key role in the “education” of lymphocytes and the immune system. However, researchers have discovered that from adolescence, young girls and women have less AIRE than men and that estrogen induces a drop in the expression of AIRE in human thymic cells.
The findings of this study showed that starting at puberty, high estrogen levels in women inhibit the expression of AIRE in the thymus, increasing susceptibility to autoimmune diseases.
“AIRE seems to be involved, acting by one or more other mechanisms. So, in general, a lower level of AIRE increases susceptibility to autoimmune diseases,” explains Sonia Berrih-Aknin.
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