Autoimmune Disease Linked to Estrogen Deficiency
Estrogen may have a new purpose in treating or preventing certain types of autoimmune disease, according to a new study
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autoimmune diseases, like Sjogren's syndrome, are much more prevalent in women than men. This suggests that estrogen probably plays an important role in the disease; however, no definitive link has yet been found.
Jan-Ake Gustafsson and colleagues now report that estrogen-deficient mice develop an autoimmune disease that resembles Sjogren 's syndrome. To investigate the possible role of estrogen in such diseases, the researchers examined genetically engineered mice that lacked aromatase - an enzyme that helps make estrogen.
The ARKO mice showed increased production of certain immune cells, increased numbers of white blood cells in the salivary glands, renal damage, and had detectable levels of autoantibodies in their blood serum. All of these measures resembled those found clinically in human cases of Sjogren's.
Furthermore, when normal mice were raised on a phytoestrogen-free diet, they developed similar but milder symptoms. These findings demonstrate that estrogen deficiency may be an important factor in the development of Sjogren's syndrome. The authors suggest that estrogen may be useful in treating or preventing this disease.
Published in PNAS Online week 33-2004
"Aromatase deficient mice spontaneously develop a lymphoproliferative autoimmune disease resembling Sjogren's Syndrome," by Gil-Jin Shim, Margaret Warner, Hyun-Jin Kim, Sandra Andersson, Linigh Liu, Jenny Ekman, Otabek Imamov, Margaret E. Jones, Evan R. Simpson, and Jan-Ake Gustafsson.
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