Hear me roar!
Sometimes it seems that estrogen has dealt women sort of a bad hand. Except when it comes to our immune systems. In fact, researchers from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center and McGill University in Montreal report in a new study that women have more powerful immune systems than men, especially when it comes to fighting off bacterial infections.
The study, which was conducted on mice, shows that naturally-produced estrogen actually blocks the production of an enzyme known as Caspase-12 which helps to block inflammation. The mice, which lacked the Caspase gene and were therefore, very resistant to infection at the start, were implanted with a human form of the gene. Ironically, after implantation, only the male mice became prone to infection. The researchers were also able to locate the exact place where estrogen interacts with Caspase-12, meaning that the action is direct.
The researchers consider these results applicable to humans because the mice were implanted with the human form of Caspase-12.
Unquestionably, this doesn’t have anything to do with menopause or midlife directly. But I find it inspiring that in the survival of the fittest, it’s women who are likely to come out ahead.
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