Why is Multiple Sclerosis is More Common in Women? Possibly answered.

[Marco]

Researchers from Northwestern University accidentally used all female mice instead of all male mice in an experiment which lead to the discovery that the innate lymphoid cell, a type of white blood cell, exhibits different immune activities in males versus females. A mouse model of MS was induced into the animals and essentially 100% of the mice got sick if they were female. However, a notable difference the researchers found was that male mice either do not get sick or experience lesser symptoms. That’s the reason behind typically using all female mice in studies of autoimmune diseases.

University Press Release: http://www.northwestern.edu/newscent...sclerosis.html
Study: http://www.jimmunol.org/content/earl...00068.abstract
News article: http://www.hcplive.com/medical-news/...ommon-in-women

[JerryD]

Wow Marco! Now I wish that I was a mouse! Male, of course ! At Northwestern U. ! lol I guess !

[Seasha]

Wow Marco! Now I wish that I was a mouse! Male, of course ! At Northwestern U. ! lol I guess !

Thanks for the belly laugh today, Jerry - I needed this
And thank you Marco for highlighting this.

[JerryD]

It is my pleasure, Seasha! Laughter is good for the soul !

[BikeChik]

Hi Marco, thanks for pointing out this interesting study. The quote didn't make sense to me so I just read the Northwestern press release which correctly summarizes the research. The grad student accidentally used all male mice. Somehow the first sentence in the quote you copied switched up the genders. Maybe get rid of the News Article link. Thanks for providing these links and keep em coming!

University Press Release: http://www.northwestern.edu/newscent...sclerosis.html

[BadAttitude]

So very interesting. Before, there was speculation that hormones were behind the differences...it seems that perhaps although not directly, perhaps hormones are the determining agents for how the innate lymphoid cell behaves.

I'd be interested to talk to a scientist to see how they would fine tune experimentation in order to delve deeper into the mechanics behind the experiment.

Off to google to research...research. Thanks, Marco.