Gene study shows sex differences go deep

Gene study shows sex differences go deep
Reuters, 1 hour, 28 minutes ago

Thousands of genes behave differently in the same organs of males and
females, researchers reported on Friday, a finding that may help
explain why men and women have different responses to drugs and
diseases.

Their study of brain, liver, fat and muscle tissue from mice showed
that gene expression -- the level of activity of a gene -- varied
greatly according to sex.

The same is almost certainly true of humans, the team at the University
of California Los Angeles reported.

"This research holds important implications for understanding disorders
such as diabetes, heart disease and obesity, and identifies targets for
the development of gender-specific therapies," said Jake Lusis, a
professor of human genetics who worked on the study.

Writing in the August issue of Genome Research, the researchers said
that even in the same organ, scores of genes varied in expression
levels between the sexes.

The smallest differences were in brain tissue, they found.

"We saw striking and measurable differences in more than half of the
genes' expression patterns between males and females," said Dr. Thomas
Drake, a professor of pathology. "We didn't expect that. No one has
previously demonstrated this genetic gender gap at such high levels."

Xia Yang, a postdoctoral fellow in cardiology who led the study, said
the implications are important.

"Males and females share the same genetic code, but our findings imply
that gender regulates how quickly the body can convert DNA to
proteins," Yang said in a statement. "This suggests that gender
influences how disease develops."

In liver tissue, the findings imply male and female livers function the
same, but at different rates.

"Our findings in the liver may explain why men and women respond
differently to the same drug," Lusis said.

"Studies show that aspirin is more effective at preventing heart attack
in men than women. One gender may metabolize the drug faster, leaving
too little of the medication in the system to produce an effect."

Yang added, "Many of the genes we identified relate to processes that
influence common diseases. This is crucial, because once we understand
the gender gap in these disease mechanisms, we can create new
strategies for designing and testing new sex-specific drugs.

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