Estrogen May Help Women Fight Off Influenza

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A new study conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health suggests that estrogen may protect women against influenza virus. It was proven to significantly decrease the amount of flu virus that multiplies in infected cells.

Examiner reports that naturally occurring estrogens found in a woman's body can protect women from the influenza virus. Even artificial forms given for hormone replacement therapy and estrogen-like chemicals found in the environment manifest the same effect on women.

Estrogen is a naturally found in a woman's body. It is essential in developing a woman's body during reproductive years. It is also known to treat menopausal symptoms.

The study which was published in the American Journal of Physiology - Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology revealed that female cells given estrogen were 1,000 times less likely to replicate viral infection compared to those which had not been exposed to the hormone.

For the study, researchers collected cells from the nasal passage from both female and male volunteers. Cells were taken from the nasal passage since they are particularly the first ones to contract the flu virus.

The researchers then exposed these cells to different types of estrogens; normal levels of naturally occurring estrogen in the body, selective estrogen receptor modulators including synthetic estrogen -like chemicals used for hormone replacement therapy and infertility treatment, and lastly estrogen-like chemical present in many plastics.

As FoxNews reports, researchers tried to understand how estrogen may stop the virus from replicating. They found that when virus binds to estrogen receptor beta, the activity of more than 30 genes involved in cell metabolism decreases. In effect, this slows down the metabolic activity of the cells and effectively preventing them from producing viral particles. 

In a press release, Sabra Klein who led the study said that even though men produce the hormone estrogen, their cells were found to have fewer receptors for the hormone which may explain why estrogen did not have the same protective effect against the flu virus in men.

Although the hormone is dominantly found in pre-menopausal women, it is unlikely there will be a population-wide effect in protecting the female against flu, Klein noted in a press release as reported in Foxnews. However, the new findings suggest that hormones that women take for medical purposes like infertility treatment or contraception may help them reduce infections.

It is highly noted though that researchers do not recommend hormone therapies for the sole purpose of stopping infection as other side effects may include an added risk for cancer.

More so, researchers also noted that elderly women may benefit most with these findings as they are more vulnerable to influenza.