GenderBiology.net

Male Hormones Control Differences In Mammary Gland Nerve Growth

SOURCE: Medical News Today

DATE: December 11, 2012

EXCERPT: "Johns Hopkins scientists have found a surprising mechanism that gives male sex hormones like testosterone control over the gender-specific absence or presence of mammary gland nerves that sense the amount of milk available in breast milk ducts. ... " ... [David Ginty] noting that "it will be interesting to see if similar mechanisms create other sex-specific differences in neural wiring, including those that affect general behavior." " more

RELATED PUBMED LINK:

Liu Y, Rutlin M, Huang S, Barrick CA, Wang F, Jones KR, Tessarollo L, Ginty DD. Sexually dimorphic BDNF signaling directs sensory innervation of the mammary gland. Science. 2012 Dec 7;338(6112):1357-60.

 

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Gender-Based Differences Discovered In Alzheimer's Disease

SOURCE:  Medical News Today

DATE: November 27, 2012

EXCERPT:  "All patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) lose brain cells, which leads to a shrinking, or atrophy, of the brain. But the pattern of gray matter loss is significantly different in men and women, ..." more

RELATED PUBMED LINK:

Presented by [Maria Vittoria Spampinato] at RSNA (Radiological Society of America) 2012, 98th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting, 25-30 November 2012, Chicago

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A Hormone Can Help Keep Men Faithful

SOURCE:  Medical News Today

DATE: November 15, 2012

EXCERPTS:  "When men are given the hormone oxytocin they are more likely to stay away from attractive women they don't know and remain faithful in monogamous relationships, according to a new study published in The Journal of Neuroscience.

The hormone oxytocin, which is made in a part of the brain called the hypothalamus, plays a part in prompting childbirth, helps women nurse, and assists the human ability to form social relationships. It also encourages the bond between mothers and children and the bond between couples. A 2011 study said that oxytocin makes people act more courageous.

Prior research has also shown that oxytocin plays a role in developing trust, but experts had not, until now, discovered that it helps preserve monogamous relationships among humans. ..." more

RELATED PUBMED LINK:

Scheele D, Striepens N, Güntürkün O, Deutschländer S, Maier W, Kendrick KM, Hurlemann R. Oxytocin Modulates Social Distance between Males and Females. J Neurosci. 2012 Nov 14;32(46):16074-9. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2755-12.2012.

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Newly-Discovered Genetic Cause Of Hypothyroidism More Prevalent In Males Than In Females

SOURCE: Medical News Today

DATE: November 14, 2012

EXCERPT: "a new hereditary form of hypothyroidism that is more prevalent in males than in females" has been identified.   more

RELATED PUBMED LINK:

Sun Y, Bak B, Schoenmakers N, van Trotsenburg AS, Oostdijk W, Voshol P, Cambridge E, White JK, le Tissier P, Gharavy SN, Martinez-Barbera JP, Stokvis-Brantsma WH, Vulsma T, Kempers MJ, Persani L, Campi I, Bonomi M, Beck-Peccoz P, Zhu H, Davis TM, Hokken-Koelega AC, Del Blanco DG, Rangasami JJ, Ruivenkamp CA, Laros JF, Kriek M, Kant SG, Bosch CA, Biermasz NR, Appelman-Dijkstra NM, Corssmit EP, Hovens GC, Pereira AM, Dunnen JT, Wade MG, Breuning MH, Hennekam RC, Chatterjee K, Dattani MT, Wit JM, Bernard DJ. Loss-of-function mutations in IGSF1 cause an X-linked syndrome of central hypothyroidism and testicular enlargement. Nat Genet. 2012 Nov 11;44(12):1375-81.


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Women's Respiratory Symptoms May Vary with Menstrual Cycle

SOURCE:  HealthSay

DATE: November 9, 2012

EXCERPT:  "Women's respiratory symptoms -- such as wheezing, coughing and shortness of breath -- vary significantly during different stages of the menstrual cycle, ... " more

RELATED PUBMED LINK:

Macsali F, Svanes C, Sothern RB, Benediktsdottir B, Bjørge L, Dratva J, Franklin KA, Holm M, Janson C, Johannessen A, Lindberg E, Omenaas ER, Schlünssen V, Zemp E, Real FG. Menstrual Cycle and Respiratory Symptoms in a General Nordic-Baltic Population. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2012 Nov 29.

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Vitamin D Levels Decrease During Winter Months In Women With Health Conditions

SOURCE: Medical News Today

DATE: November 5, 2012

EXCERPT: "Women with health issues such as arthritis and diabetes are much more likely to have inadequate levels of vitamin D during the winter than in the summer,  ..."  more

RELATED PUBMED LINK:

Presented by [Samir Aleryani; Fahd A. Al Qureshah] at the 2012 ASCP (American Society for Clinical Pathology) Annual Meeting,  31 Oct-3 Nov, 2012, Boston

Women Should Be Included In Reproductive Health Research

SOURCE:  Medical News Today

DATE: October 18, 2012

EXCERPT: "A team of Northwestern University scientists will meet with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrators in Washington D.C. Oct. 18 to advocate for important changes in the agency's guidelines for reproductive health research. ...  The Northwestern team will ask the EPA to expand the definition of reproductive health beyond pregnancy to include the lifespan of an individual. ... The Northwestern scientists also will request that all EPA-sponsored research require appropriate testing in both sexes. Currently many toxicity studies are only conducted in male animal models with the assumption that females are affected the same way, but that isn't necessarily true."  more

Satiety Hormone Tied to Diabetes, Heart Disease

SOURCE:  MedPage Today

DATE: October 9, 2012

EXCERPT: "High levels of a hormone that signals when you’ve had enough may raise the risk of obesity-related diseases, researchers found. ...  But the relationships were significant only for women, who also had an increased risk of breast cancer with higher levels of the hormone, the researchers wrote ...  One reason the relationship may be more powerful in women is because estradiol upregulates expression of neurotensin, so women have a higher lifetime exposure to the hormone, the researchers wrote.". More
  more

RELATED PUBMED LINK:

Melander O, Maisel AS, Almgren P, Manjer J, Belting M, Hedblad B, Engström G, Kilger U, Nilsson P, Bergmann A, Orho-Melander M.  Plasma Proneurotensin and Incidence of Diabetes, Cardiovascular Disease, Breast Cancer, and Mortality. JAMA. 2012 Oct 10;308(14):1469-1475.


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BPA Risks To Pregnant Women, Newborn Boys Through Thyroid Hormone Changes

SOURCE:  Medical News Today

DATE: October 7, 2012

EXCERPTS: "Bisphenol A (BPA), an estrogen-like compound that has drawn increased scrutiny in recent years, has been linked to changes in thyroid hormone levels in pregnant women and newborn boys, according to a new study

...

For newborn boys, each doubling of BPA levels linked to a 9.9 percent decrease in thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), indicating a hyperthyroid effect. ... "In addition, studies suggest that small changes in thyroid level, even if they're within normal limits, may still have a cognitive effect."

...

It was not clear why an association was not found among newborn girls, but animal studies may provide some clues. One study in neonatal rats found a similar hyperthyroidic effect in males, but not females. Another study found that female rats had higher levels of an enzyme important in metabolizing BPA when compared with their male counterparts. Whether that same relationship holds true for humans is not yet clear."  more

RELATED PUBMED LINK:

Chevrier J, Gunier RB, Bradman A, Holland NT, Calafat AM, Eskenazi B, Harley KG. Maternal Urinary Bisphenol A during Pregnancy and Maternal and Neonatal Thyroid Function in the CHAMACOS Study. Environ Health Perspect. 2012 Sep 25.


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Sex Matters

SOURCE: 

DATE: October 1, 2012

EXCERPT:  "Researchers reveal a new pathway of synaptic modulation in the hippocampus exclusive to females. ...  The ovarian reproductive hormone estradiol (E2) is synthesized in the hippocampus of both males and females, where it is thought to affect hippocampal functions such as memory and mood-related behavior by increasing the excitability of neurons.

....

Surprisingly, the research team found that the endocannabinoid involved was different than the one that had been observed in previous studies of hippocampal signaling. The reason for this disparity, they realized, was that they had used female rats, while earlier work had used male rats.

...

the vast majority of basic neuroscience experiments are done in male animals. “There may be a whole infrastructure in terms of endocannabinoid signaling present in the female brain that’s not present in males,” ... "  more

RELATED PUBMED LINK:

Huang GZ, Woolley CS. Estradiol acutely suppresses inhibition in the hippocampus through a sex-specific endocannabinoid and mGluR-dependent mechanism. Neuron. 2012 Jun 7;74(5):801-8

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