Do Androgens Modulate the Pathophysiological Pathways of Inflammation? Appraising the Contemporary Evidence

The role of testosterone in the pathophysiology of inflammation is of critical clinical importance; however, no universal mechanism(s) has been advanced to explain the complex and interwoven pathways of androgens in the attenuation of the inflammatory processes. PubMed and EMBASE searches were perfo...

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Autores principales: Traish, Abdulmaged, Bolanos, Jose, Nair, Sunil, Saad, Farid, Morgentaler, Abraham
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6306858/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30558178
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jcm7120549
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author Traish, Abdulmaged
Bolanos, Jose
Nair, Sunil
Saad, Farid
Morgentaler, Abraham
author_facet Traish, Abdulmaged
Bolanos, Jose
Nair, Sunil
Saad, Farid
Morgentaler, Abraham
author_sort Traish, Abdulmaged
collection PubMed
description The role of testosterone in the pathophysiology of inflammation is of critical clinical importance; however, no universal mechanism(s) has been advanced to explain the complex and interwoven pathways of androgens in the attenuation of the inflammatory processes. PubMed and EMBASE searches were performed, including the following key words: “testosterone”, “androgens”, “inflammatory cytokines”, “inflammatory biomarkers” with focus on clinical studies as well as basic scientific studies in human and animal models. Significant benefits of testosterone therapy in ameliorating or attenuating the symptoms of several chronic inflammatory diseases were reported. Because anti–tumor necrosis factor therapy is the mainstay for the treatment of moderate-to-severe inflammatory bowel disease; including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, and because testosterone therapy in hypogonadal men with chronic inflammatory conditions reduce tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), IL-1β, and IL-6, we suggest that testosterone therapy attenuates the inflammatory process and reduces the burden of disease by mechanisms inhibiting inflammatory cytokine expression and function. Mechanistically, androgens regulate the expression and function of inflammatory cytokines, including TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, and CRP (C-reactive protein). Here, we suggest that testosterone regulates multiple and overlapping cellular and molecular pathways involving a host of immune cells and biochemical factors that converge to contribute to attenuation of the inflammatory process.
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spelling pubmed-63068582019-01-02 Do Androgens Modulate the Pathophysiological Pathways of Inflammation? Appraising the Contemporary Evidence Traish, Abdulmaged Bolanos, Jose Nair, Sunil Saad, Farid Morgentaler, Abraham J Clin Med Review The role of testosterone in the pathophysiology of inflammation is of critical clinical importance; however, no universal mechanism(s) has been advanced to explain the complex and interwoven pathways of androgens in the attenuation of the inflammatory processes. PubMed and EMBASE searches were performed, including the following key words: “testosterone”, “androgens”, “inflammatory cytokines”, “inflammatory biomarkers” with focus on clinical studies as well as basic scientific studies in human and animal models. Significant benefits of testosterone therapy in ameliorating or attenuating the symptoms of several chronic inflammatory diseases were reported. Because anti–tumor necrosis factor therapy is the mainstay for the treatment of moderate-to-severe inflammatory bowel disease; including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, and because testosterone therapy in hypogonadal men with chronic inflammatory conditions reduce tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), IL-1β, and IL-6, we suggest that testosterone therapy attenuates the inflammatory process and reduces the burden of disease by mechanisms inhibiting inflammatory cytokine expression and function. Mechanistically, androgens regulate the expression and function of inflammatory cytokines, including TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, and CRP (C-reactive protein). Here, we suggest that testosterone regulates multiple and overlapping cellular and molecular pathways involving a host of immune cells and biochemical factors that converge to contribute to attenuation of the inflammatory process. MDPI 2018-12-14 /pmc/articles/PMC6306858/ /pubmed/30558178 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jcm7120549 Text en © 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Review
Traish, Abdulmaged
Bolanos, Jose
Nair, Sunil
Saad, Farid
Morgentaler, Abraham
Do Androgens Modulate the Pathophysiological Pathways of Inflammation? Appraising the Contemporary Evidence
title Do Androgens Modulate the Pathophysiological Pathways of Inflammation? Appraising the Contemporary Evidence
title_full Do Androgens Modulate the Pathophysiological Pathways of Inflammation? Appraising the Contemporary Evidence
title_fullStr Do Androgens Modulate the Pathophysiological Pathways of Inflammation? Appraising the Contemporary Evidence
title_full_unstemmed Do Androgens Modulate the Pathophysiological Pathways of Inflammation? Appraising the Contemporary Evidence
title_short Do Androgens Modulate the Pathophysiological Pathways of Inflammation? Appraising the Contemporary Evidence
title_sort do androgens modulate the pathophysiological pathways of inflammation? appraising the contemporary evidence
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6306858/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30558178
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jcm7120549
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