Androgen receptor activation alleviates airway hyperresponsiveness, inflammation, and remodeling in a murine model of asthma.

Epidemiological studies demonstrate an apparent sex-based difference in the prevalence of asthma, with a higher risk in boys than girls, which is reversed postpuberty, where women become more prone to asthma than men, suggesting a plausible beneficial role for male hormones, especially androgens as a regulator of pathophysiology in asthmatic lungs. Using a murine model of asthma developed with mixed allergen (MA) challenge, we report a significant change in airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR), as demonstrated by increased thickness of epithelial and airway smooth muscle layers and collagen deposition, as well as Th2/Th17-biased inflammation in the airways of non-gonadectomized (non-GDX) and gonadectomized (GDX) male mice. Here, compared with non-GDX mice, MA-induced AHR and inflammatory changes were more prominent in GDX mice.

How Can We Improve to Keep Our Patients Out of the Hospital?

Many patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) endure a hospital admission during the course of their disease, and there is a portion of patients who are readmitted not infrequently. Time spent in the hospital puts not only a large burden on patients but also accounts for substantial health care costs in the United States. Studies to date evaluating causes for readmission have largely been retrospective and have identified several important risk factors increasing readmission rates, including psychiatric comorbidity, use of steroids, failure to begin biologic therapy, and concomitant infections such as Clostridium difficile.