Sex and age differences of the systemic inflammatory response in experimental endotoxinemia

• Kosyreva A.M.
• Makarova O.V.
• Mikhaylova L.P.
• Kakturskiy L.V.

Abstract

The morphological and functional state of the integrative systems of the organism - endocrine, immune and nervous, in humans and animals, as well as susceptibility to diseases and the severity of their course are determined mainly by the karyotype and the content of sex steroid hormones, the concentration of which varies in individuals of different sex and age. The study evaluated differences in the systemic inflammatory response and morphological changes in the liver and lungs during experimental endotoxinemia induced by the injection of 15 mg/kg lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of E. coli in females and males Wistar rats of three age groups: newborns (2 days old), prepubertal (10 days old) and sexually mature (2-3 month old). In a day after LPS injection the severity of the inflammation was estimated by the number of neutrophils in the interalveolar septa of the lung, liver necrosis area, the activity level of liver enzymes - ALT and AST, endotoxin level, and the concentration of C-reactive protein in the blood serum. Concentration of corticosterone, estradiol and testosterone in the blood serum by ELISA. It was shown that, compared with newborn and adult Wistar rats, the most severe course of LPS-induced inflammatory response is observed in the prepubertal females and males, which are characterized by low serum concentrations of estradiol and testosterone. Despite the absence of sex differences in the concentration of steroid sex hormones in rats of the prepubertal period, the severity of the systemic inflammatory response in prepubertal males was higher than in females, as evidence by more pronounced inflammatory and pathological changes in the lung and liver, the increase of C-reactive protein in the serum. As in the prepubertal period, the severity of the inflammatory response in newborn and adult rats is more pronounced in males, which is apparently due to the genotype. The obtained data can serve as a basis for the development of new approaches to the effective personalized treatment of infectious and inflammatory diseases considering age and sex.

Keywords:lipopolysaccharide; inflammation; females and males; newborn; prepubertal; sexually mature rats

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