Washington DC: A study has recently revealed that men are more likely to develop a type of cancer than women, as male hormones promote an infection by virus that causes the deadly disease.
According to researchers, male hormones may facilitate infection with a virus that can cause a type of cancer known as Kaposi’s sarcoma.
Both men and women have androgen receptors, but they are activated by hormones (such as testosterone) that are produced at much higher levels in men.
The researchers used a technique known as RNA interference to inhibit androgen receptor activity in the cultured cells and then exposed the cells to KSHV.
They found that AR inhibition led to much lower levels of KSHV genetic material detected in the cells than in control cells.
Cells treated with 5a-dihydrotestosterone (DHT), a hormone that activates the androgen receptor, had increased levels of KSHV.
This suggests that both the androgen receptor and DHT promote KSHV infection.
With further research, these findings could help guide efforts to develop drugs that could prevent KSHV infection and reduce the risk of Kaposi’s sarcoma.
“Male hormones,” the authors further explain, “facilitate Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus infection through activation of viral receptor EphA2.”
The research appears in the journal PLOS Pathogens.
