Gender differences in pulmonary and immune response in acute experimental endotoxicosis.

Differences in the immune and inflammatory response were revealed in the lungs of male and female Wistar rats on day 1 after administration of LPS in a dose inducing the development of acute bacterial endotoxemia. Females showed more pronounced morphofunctional signs of immune system activation than males: this was characterized by more severe accidental involution of the thymus, devastation of the splenic white pulp, and enhanced production of IL-4, IL-12, and TNF-α by splenocytes. In males, production of the above cytokines decreased and inflammation in the lungs was more pronounced at these terms.