Asthma has a curious pattern: it’s more common in boys before puberty, then more common in women in adulthood. A new mouse study points to a mechanism — male sex hormones acting on nerves — that could help explain the switch.
Researchers at Peking University and Peking University Third Hospital, led by Xiaofan Tu, found that androgens (male sex hormones) suppress allergic lung inflammation in mice by enhancing the development of sympathetic nerves in the lungs and the release of norepinephrine. That norepinephrine reduced eosinophil-recruiting signals from immune cells, dampening the allergic response. The work appeared in Science Immunology.
Connecting to a real-world pattern
The findings offer a possible explanation for why “a significant proportion of pediatric patients experience asthma remission, a phenomenon that is more common in males than females,” the authors noted — a shift that coincides with puberty’s hormonal changes. In their words, “male gonadal hormones dampen allergic inflammation and contribute to sexually dimorphic type 2 responses during peripubertal stages.”
Why it matters
Understanding why asthma differs by sex could eventually point to new treatment angles — for example, targeting the nerve–immune signaling involved rather than hormones themselves. But this is mouse research; whether the same pathway operates in people, and how to act on it safely, remains to be shown. This article summarizes early research and is not medical advice.