對于男性較女性更容易受到各種感染疾病影響的現(xiàn)象，斯坦福大學(xué)的研究團(tuán)隊(duì)進(jìn)行了分析，認(rèn)為是由于男性身體中高濃度的睪丸激素水平抑制了免疫系統(tǒng)的工作而造成的，這是由于男性較于女性更高的攻擊性造成更可能在自然環(huán)境中受傷，而對于這種高頻受傷的幾率，為了男性的免疫系統(tǒng)不至于過度反映，睪丸激素對其進(jìn)行了抑制。
Man Flu is not a Myth, Say Stanford Scientists
High testosterone levels weaken ability to fight flu and yellow fever, researchers find
By
TOM PORTER | December 24, 2013 15:57 PM GMT
A flu vaccination is drawn into a syringe.
"Man flu" may not be the convenient myth promulgated by lazy blokes that its critics claim it is, according to findings by a team of scientists at an American university.
Their research has found that high testosterone levels may make men more susceptible than women to a range of ailments.
Researchers at Stanford University believe that their research may explain why men fall ill more often with a number of bacterial, viral, fungal and parasitic infections, and may also explain why immunisation drugs for flu, yellow fever, measles and hepatitis are less effective when administered to men.
In tests, scientists delivered a flu vaccine to 53 women and 34 men.
The jab caused a surge in protective antibodies in the women but in the men provoked responses that resulted in a decline in the number of antibodies.
"This is the first study to show an explicit correlation between testosterone levels, gene expression and immune responsiveness in humans," said lead scientist Prof Mark Davis.
"It could be food for thought to all the testosterone supplement takers out there."
The scientists, writing in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, said that the anti-inflammatory properties of testosterone might be linked to its role as a medication suppressant.
Davis speculated on the evolutionary reasons for this.
"Ask yourself which sex is more likely to clash violently with, and do grievous bodily harm to, others of their own sex," Davis added.
He said that male aggression was more likely to lead to physical injury, and testosterone may have had a role in supressing the immune system to prevent potentially fatal over-reactions to wounds.
