Estrogen may play a role in protecting against endotoxic shock associated with Vibrio vulnificus infection, a finding that may help explain the vast difference between the infection in men and women. Researchers from the University of North Carolina report these findings in the October 2001 issue of the journal Infection and Immunity.
Vibrio vulnificus is a bacterium that can cause endotoxic shock following the consumption of contaminated raw shellfish and is considered one of the most invasive and rapidly fatal human pathogens known, with fatality rates over 60%.
Interestingly, most of the cases occur in individuals over the age of 50 and, over the last 10 years, 85% of those who developed endotoxic shock were males.
The researchers investigated whether hormone levels played a role in this gender-biased response to infection.
Using rat models, they discovered that females who have had their ovaries removed were more likely to develop endotoxic shock. More importantly, estrogen replacement therapy significantly decreased mortality in male rats.
"These results demonstrate that estrogen is providing protection against V. vulnificus lipopolysaccharide-induced endotoxic shock," say the researchers.
(Reference: S.M. Merkel, S. Alexander, E. Zufall, J.D. Oliver, and Y.M. Huet-Hudson. 2001. Essential role for estrogen in protection against Vibrio vulnificus-induced endotoxic shock. Infection and Immunity, 69: 6119-6122.)
16-Oct-2001
