Androgen enhances replication of hepatitis B virus (HBV), rendering males more vulnerable than females to this virus, according to research published in the February Journal of Virology.
“Our studies allowed us to understand the gender disparity of HBV carriers, and why this virus tends to cause more severe liver disease in men than in women,” says principal investigator James Ou of the University of Southern California.
The researchers found no difference between levels of virus in prepubescent male and female mice. However, post-puberty, levels in males exceeded those in females, in some cases by more than double, says Ou. Subsequently castrating male mice reduced the viral load, but injecting castrated mice with an androgen agonist resulted in a rising viral load again.
Read more....
0 comments:
Post a Comment