X Chromosome Study in Mice Hints at Why Women Get More Autoimmune Issues

 

X Chromosome Study in Mice Hints at Why Women Get More Autoimmune Issues 老鼠X染色體的研究或可解釋為何女性較易出現自體免疫問題

【摘要2020.9.7.自由】◎陳成良

New research on mice has found a possible explanation for why autoimmune diseases are more common in females, and it has to do with their extra X chromosome.

對老鼠進行的新研究，可能解釋了為何女性更常出現自體免疫性疾病，這與她們多出的一條X染色體有關。

Amongst animals, females generally tend to have stronger and more robust immune systems. While this can help them to cope better with vaccines and infections, it can also cause an overactive immune response.

在動物中，雌性往往有更強大的免疫系統。雖然這可以幫助她們更好地應付疫苗和感染，但也可能會導致過度免疫反應。

This means females are much more vulnerable to autoimmune diseases.

這意味著女性更容易罹患自體免疫性疾病。

Exactly why this discrepancy exists remains a mystery. Clear biological differences between the sexes usually boil down to hormones, chromosomes, or some combination of both. But while the role of testosterone, estrogen and progesterone in autoimmunity have been reasonably well explored, the part that X and Y chromosomes play remains far more murky.

存在這種差異的確切原因，仍然是個謎。兩性之間明顯的生物學差異，通常可歸結為荷爾蒙、染色體或兩者的某種結合。雖然人們已經對睪酮、雌激素和黃體酮在自體免疫中的作用進行適度探索，但X染色體和Y染色體的作用依然不明。

新聞辭典

tend：動詞，傾向；易於。例句：Old people tend to get fat. （老年人容易發胖。）

boil down：動詞片語，原指煮沸後濃縮，引申為指濃縮、總結或某事的主要原因。例句：The problem boils down to one thing － lack of money.（問題總歸一個原因，就是缺錢。）

murky：形容詞，陰暗的、模糊不清的、朦朧的，不名譽的。例句：She has a murky past.（她有一段不光彩的過去。）