[Sex differences in pharmacology].

Pharmacoepidemiological studies have shown that there are approximately 30% more adverse drug reaction reports on women than on men. The precise reason for this sex difference is unknown. It could either be due to increased drug use in women compared with men, increased polypharmacy and hence drug-drug interactions, a lower threshold for accepting adverse drug reactions in women or it could be due to true sex differences in pharmacokinetics or pharmacodynamics which render women more susceptible to adverse drug reactions. Sex differences in pharmacokinetics and in particular cytochrome P450 activity have been reported. Thus, CYP3A4 activity is increased in women compared with men, while CYP1A2 activity is lower in women than in men. The glucuronidation of drugs also appears to be slower in women than in men. In general, pharmacodynamic sex differences are less well studied. Drug-induced torsades des pointes occur twice as frequently in women as in men. There do not seem to be any sex differences with regard to placebo effect in pain or depression treatment.