Sex hormones put women at allergy risk

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Researchers found that oestradiol – a type of oestrogen – enhances the levels and activity of the chemical which drives life threatening allergic reactions in women.

One such condition is anaphylaxis – an allergic reaction triggered by food, medication or insect stings and bites.

In experiments on mice, the team found that female mice experience more severe anaphylactic reactions than males.

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Oestrogen influences blood vessels, enhancing the levels and activity of an enzyme that causes some of the symptoms of anaphylaxis.

The researchers found that giving oestrogen-blocking treatments to female mice reduced the severity of their allergic responses to a level similar to those seen in males.

The paper appeared in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

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