Testosterone Protects against Asthma

[Jinzang]

A few years down the road, standard treatment for asthma may be a shot of testosterone. The Science Daily article says:

An international research team has revealed for the first time that testosterone protects males against developing asthma, helping to explain why females are two times more likely to develop asthma than males after puberty. The study showed that testosterone suppresses the production of a type of immune cell that triggers allergic asthma.

The research team found that innate lymphoid cells -- or ILC2s -- 'sensed' testosterone and responded by halting production of the cells.

"Testosterone directly acts on ILC2s by inhibiting their proliferation," Dr Seillet said. "So in males, you have less ILC2s in the lungs and this directly correlates with the reduced severity of asthma."