An inherent T cell deficit in healthy males to C. neoformans infection may begin to explain the sex susceptibility in incidence of cryptococcosis

BACKGROUND: Cryptococcus neoformans, the causative agent of cryptococcosis, causes ~ 181,000 deaths annually, with males having a higher incidence of disease than females (7M:3F). The reason for this sex bias remains unclear. We hypothesized that this disparity was due to biological differences between the male and female immune response. METHODS: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from healthy donors were isolated and infected with C. neoformans ± exogenous testosterone or 17-β-estradiol. C. neoformans, B, T, and NK cell proliferation was quantified by flow cytometry. Cytokine analysis was conducted via protein array or ELISA. Serological testing was conducted to determine previous exposure to C. neoformans. RESULTS: C. neoformans proliferated more in male PBMCs. T cell percentages in both sexes were lower in infected versus uninfected cells. Male PBMCs had lower CD3(+), CD4(+), and CD8(+) T cells percentages during infection compared to females. Cytokine profiles showed differences in uninfected male and female PBMCs, which subsided during infection. Only one donor was sero-negative for prior C. neoformans exposure. There was an effect of estrogen in one dataset. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that males show an inherent deficit in T cell response during infection, which may contribute to the increased incidence of disease in males. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s13293-019-0258-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.