Sex and estradiol influence glial pro-inflammatory responses to lipopolysaccharide in rats.

There is a greater prevalence of neuroinflammatory diseases in females than males. Microglia, the major immunocompetent cells of the central nervous system, play a key role in neuroinflammation. We aimed to determine if inherent differences in toll-like receptor 4 mediated pro-inflammatory response in glia could possibly contribute to the skewed female prevalence of neuroinflammatory disorders.