Systems analysis of sex differences reveals an immunosuppressive role for testosterone in the response to influenza vaccination

Females have generally more robust immune responses than males for reasons that are not well-understood. Here we used a systems analysis to investigate these differences by analyzing the neutralizing antibody response to a trivalent inactivated seasonal influenza vaccine (TIV) and a large number of immune system components, including serum cytokines and chemokines, blood cell subset frequencies, genome-wide gene expression, and cellular responses to diverse in vitro stimuli, in 53 females and 34 males of different ages. We found elevated antibody responses to TIV and expression of inflammatory cytokines in the serum of females compared with males regardless of age. This inflammatory profile correlated with the levels of phosphorylated STAT3 proteins in monocytes but not with the serological response to the vaccine. In contrast, using a machine learning approach, we identified a cluster of genes involved in lipid biosynthesis and previously shown to be up-regulated by testosterone that correlated with poor virus-neutralizing activity in men. Moreover, men with elevated serum testosterone levels and associated gene signatures exhibited the lowest antibody responses to TIV. These results demonstrate a strong association between androgens and genes involved in lipid metabolism, suggesting that these could be important drivers of the differences in immune responses between males and females.The variability in the biology of human populations poses significant challenges in understanding different disease outcomes and developing successful therapeutics. The sources of this variation are likely the consequence of genetics, epigenetics, and the history of antigenic exposure (1, 2). As therapies targeting immune function are developed to improve clinical outcomes in cancer, viral and bacterial infections, autoimmune diseases, and transplantation, identifying the sources of immunological variation and finding biomarkers for immune health and dysfunction are crucial for their success (3).An important source of immunological variation is known to be the sex of the individual. Males experience a greater severity and prevalence of bacterial, viral, fungal, and parasitic infections than females, who also exhibit a more robust response to antigenic challenges such as infection and vaccination (4, 5). This stronger immune response in females could also explain why they more frequently develop immune-mediated pathologies during influenza infection, such as an overproduction of cytokines (cytokine storm) that contribute to an increase in capillary permeability and lung failure (6). Furthermore, females are at a higher risk for developing autoimmune diseases. In this later context, it is interesting to note that a recent study showed that females had, on average, 1.7 times the frequency of self-specific T cells as males (7). Despite the fact that initial observations relating the sex of the individual with the immune response were made many years ago (8), little is known about the mechanisms underlying these differences.Some sex-specific variations in the immune response can be directly attributed to sex hormones (9). In humans, sex steroids can bind to intracellular receptors located in immune cells such as monocytes, B cells, and T cells and activate hormone-responsive genes, suggesting that they can directly affect sex-related differences in both innate and adaptive immune responses (10). Whereas estrogens are associated with inflammation and can stimulate proliferation and differentiation of lymphocytes and monocytes, androgens suppress the activity of immune cells by increasing the synthesis of anti-inflammatory cytokines (11, 12).To date, no clear associations have been found between biological and clinical differences in the immune response between males and females in humans. In one study, results from public gene expression data (13) showed that many of the genes induced by a yellow fever vaccine were preferentially activated in females (14). However, whether these differences correlate with poor antibody outcomes remains to be determined.In this study, we sought to determine whether we could identify biomarkers from peripheral blood that could explain the sex-related differences in the serological response to the trivalent inactivated seasonal influenza vaccine (TIV) in both young and older cohorts.Young and older females had higher neutralizing antibodies than age-matched males, consistent with previous reports (15). Females also showed higher expression of inflammatory markers. However, none of these specific sex-related differences correlated with the observed disparities in the antibody response to TIV. Nevertheless, using a machine learning approach, we identified a set of genes previously shown to be regulated by testosterone and participating in lipid biosynthesis, whose expression was negatively associated with antibody responses to TIV in the male subjects in our study. Moreover, males with high levels of serum testosterone and expressing related gene signatures in blood cells showed the lowest neutralizing responses to TIV. These results suggest that testosterone might be immunosuppressive in vivo in humans, and indicate that its effect on an influenza vaccine and other immune responses could be due to the regulation of genes implicated in the metabolism of lipids.     

Skeletal Histomorphometry in Subjects on Teriparatide or Zoledronic Acid Therapy (SHOTZ) Study: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Context: Recent studies on the mechanism of action (MOA) of bone-active drugs have rekindled interest in how to present and interpret dynamic histomorphometric parameters of bone remodeling. Objective: We compared the effects of an established anabolic agent, teriparatide (TPTD), with those of a prototypical antiresorptive agent, zoledronic acid (ZOL). Design: This was a 12-month, randomized, double-blind, active-comparator controlled, cross-sectional biopsy study. Setting: The study was conducted at 12 U.S. and Canadian centers. Subjects: Healthy postmenopausal women with osteoporosis participated in the study. Interventions: Subjects received TPTD 20 μg once daily by sc injection (n = 34) or ZOL 5 mg by iv infusion at baseline (n = 35). Main Outcome Measures: The primary end point was mineralizing surface/bone surface (MS/BS), a dynamic measure of bone formation, at month 6. A standard panel of dynamic and static histomorphometric indices was also assessed. When specimens with missing labels were encountered, several methods were used to calculate mineral apposition rate (MAR). Serum markers of bone turnover were also measured. Results: Among 58 subjects with evaluable biopsies (TPTD = 28; ZOL = 30), MS/BS was significantly higher in the TPTD group (median: 5.60 vs. 0.16%, P < 0.001). Other bone formation indices, including MAR, were also higher in the TPTD group (P < 0.05). TPTD significantly increased procollagen type 1 N-terminal propeptide (PINP) at months 1, 3, 6, and 12 and carboxyterminal cross-linking telopeptide of collagen type 1 (CTX) from months 3 to 12. ZOL significantly decreased PINP and CTX below baseline at all time points. Conclusions: TPTD and ZOL possess fundamentally different mechanisms of action with opposite effects on bone formation based on this analysis of both histomorphometric data and serum markers of bone formation and resorption. An important mechanistic difference was a substantially higher MS/BS in the TPTD group. Overall, these results define the dynamic histomorphometric characteristics of anabolic activity relative to antiresorptive activity after treatment with these two drugs.     

The association between triglyceride to high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol ratio and insulin resistance in a multiethnic primary prevention cohort

The objective was to explore the clinical utility of triglyceride (TG) to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) ratio in predicting insulin resistance (IR) in 4 ethnic groups and the relationship between IR and TG/HDL-C in comparison to that with other lipid measures. Apparently healthy Aboriginals, Chinese, Europeans, and South Asians (N = 784) were assessed for sociodemographics, lifestyle, anthropometry, lipids, glucose, and insulin. The homeostasis model assessment of IR was used as a measure of IR. Compared with other lipid parameters, TG/HDL-C was the highest correlate of the homeostasis model assessment of IR (age and sex adjusted) in Aboriginals (r = 0.499, P < .001), Chinese (r = 0.432, P < .001), Europeans (r = 0.597, P < .001), and South Asians (0.372, P < .001). For a 1-unit increase in TG/HDL-C, the odds of being insulin resistant increased about 4 times (odds ratio [OR], 3.95; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.86-8.42; P < .001) in Aboriginals, 3.4 times in Chinese (OR, 3.44; 95% CI, 1.79-6.62; P < .001), 1.9 times in Europeans (OR, 1.94; 95% CI, 1.00-3.75; P = .049), and 1.8 times in South Asians (OR, 1.77; 95% CI, 0.91-3.45; P = .094) (age, sex, smoking, physical activity, body mass index, and waist circumference adjusted). Receiver operating characteristic curve analyses revealed areas under the curve (95% CI) of 0.777 (0.707-0.847) in Aboriginals, 0.723 (0.647-0.798) in Chinese, 0.752 (0.675-0.828) in Europeans, and 0.676 (0.590-0.762) in South Asians. Optimal cutoffs (sensitivity, specificity) of TG/HDL-C for identifying individuals with IR were 0.9 (93.0%, 51.9%), 1.1 (71.7%, 61.5%), 1.1 (73.5%, 70.9%), and 1.8 (52.0%, 77.9%) in Aboriginal, Chinese, European, and South Asian individuals, respectively. The TG/HDL-C ratio may be a good marker to identify insulin-resistant individuals of Aboriginal, Chinese, and European, but not South Asian, origin.     

Why Do Patients with Partial Epilepsy Improve Their IQ After Training to Self-Regulate Slow Cortical Potentials?

In patients with epilepsy, not only seizures but also cognitive, emotional, and social functioning are of increasing interest in research (Kelley, Jacobs, &; Lowenstein, 2009 Kelley , M. S. , Jacobs , M. P. , &; Lowenstein , D. H. , for the NINDS Epilepsy Benchmark Stewards . ( 2009 ). The NINDS epilepsy research benchmarks . Epilepsia , 50 , 579 – 582 . doi: doi:10.1111/j.1528-1167.2008.01813.x  [Google Scholar]). As a decrease in cognitive functions over the course of the illness is usually reported, we wanted to explore changes in Intelligence Scores observed after a neurofeedback treatment in patients with drug-resistant epilepsies. In a controlled study that compared the outcome of three different interventions (training to regulate slow cortical potentials, N = 34; training to regulate breath rate and the amount of carbon dioxide in the end tidal volume of the exhaled air, N = 11; modification of drug regime, N = 25), pre- and postmeasurements of a short version of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale were applied. The interval between the two assessments was more than 12 months, with a mean of 61 weeks. Mean age of the patients was 35, with a range from 17 to 57. The highly significant 7-point increment of IQ only after training of slow cortical potentials was not related to clinical (e.g., seizure reduction) or neuropsychological (e.g., attention and memory) variables. Instead, it was related to psychophysiological measures: IQ change was inversely related to the Latency of the P300 component of event-related brain potentials and directly related to the Latency of the P2 component and the increase of N2 Amplitude during training. We conclude that regulation training of slow cortical potentials improves IQ in patients with refractory partial epilepsy, which might be related to an improved ability for controlled allocation of cognitive resources.     

Neural correlates of treatment response in depressed bipolar adolescents during emotion processing

Depressive mood in adolescents with bipolar disorder (BDd) is associated with significant morbidity and mortality, but we have limited information about neural correlates of depression and treatment response in BDd. Ten adolescents with BDd (8 females, mean age = 15.6?±?0.9) completed two (fearful and happy) face gender labeling fMRI experiments at baseline and after 6-weeks of open treatment. Whole-brain analysis was used at baseline to compare their neural activity with those of 10 age and sex-matched healthy controls (HC). For comparisons of the neural activity at baseline and after treatment of youth with BDd, region of interest analysis for dorsal/ventral prefrontal, anterior cingulate, and amygdala activity, and significant regions identified by wholebrain analysis between BDd and HC were analyzed. There was significant improvement in depression scores (mean percentage change on the Child Depression Rating Scale-Revised 57 %?±?28). Neural activity after treatment was decreased in left occipital cortex in the intense fearful experiment, but increased in left insula, left cerebellum, and right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex in the intense happy experiment. Greater improvement in depression was associated with baseline higher activity in ventral ACC to mild happy faces. Study sample size was relatively small for subgroup analysis and consisted of mainly female adolescents that were predominantly on psychotropic medications during scanning. Our results of reduced negative emotion processing versus increased positive emotion processing after treatment of depression (improvement of cognitive bias to negative and away from positive) are consistent with the improvement of depression according to Beck’s cognitive theory.