Lung diseases, such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, pulmonary hypertension, sarcoidosis and alpha 1 antitrypsin deficiency, exhibit significant sex-differences in their incidence, prevalence, and severity across the lifespan. However, little is known about the underlying biological mechanisms or the response to medications. Likewise, the effect of puberty, pregnancy, menopause and hormonal supplementation has not been well studied.
Lung disease are usually the results of both environmental triggers and genetic predisposition. To date, studies have evaluated the genetic predisposition for several lung diseases. However, the effect of sex and sex hormones on this genetic predisposition has not been well studied.
In this proposal we would like to study the effect of sex and sex hormones across the lifespan on lung diseases such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, emphysema, pulmonary hypertension, and sarcoidosis.
