The effect of sex differences on colitis phenotype and microbiota in IL-10-/- mice.
Sexual dimorphism is an important factor in understanding various diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). While females generally show stronger immune responses, the role of gender in IBD is not always clear. The aim of this study was to explore gender differences and inflammatory susceptibility in the most widely used model of colitis. We followed IL10-deficient (IL-10-/-) mice up to 17 weeks of age and characterized their colonic inflammatory phenotype, as well as changes in their microbiota. We identified female IL-10-/- mice as more prone to develop intestinal inflammation, with increased fecal miR-21, and a more “deleterious” microbiota compared to males. Our results provide valuable insights into gender differences in the pathophysiology of colitis, and underline the importance of taking gender into account when setting up our experiments. Furthermore, this study paves the way for future research aimed at taking gender differences into account for the development of appropriate disease models and therapeutic strategies, ideally enabling personalized medicine.