An interesting article on how testosterone creates sex specific differences in how drugs work.
Scientists looked at the biochemical relationship between testosterone and five anti-inflammatory drugs that interfere with leukotriene production. The female blood samples were shown to have higher levels of leukotrienes than the male samples, but that was no surprise since it was already known that testosterone downregulates the molecule’s synthesis. “But we also wondered if the drugs that block leukotrienes are more efficient in females than males,” said Werz.
That’s exactly what Werz and his colleagues found; testosterone made the drugs less effective, which created a significant difference in drug potency between sexes. One of the drugs tested, MK886, was close to eight times more effective at reducing leukotrienes in blood samples collected from women compared to men. Another, sulindac sulfide, had almost no effect in male blood samples at all, but was effective in the female samples.
Not knowing about the sex-specific potency of these drugs may have prevented women who suffer from these diseases from accessing potentially helpful medicines. Three of the five drugs that Werz tested -- including MK866 -- were not approved for use because they were shown to be ineffective. That judgement was based on clinical trials during the 1980s and 1990s in which women were not properly included, said Werz.
