Have come across a strange lagged response to an infectious agent where females seem to respond far more rapidly than males.
Is there anything in the literature regarding profound differences in immune response between the two genders or anything about gender and immune lags or immune feedback loops?
It is known that females respond much better to certain infections than age-matched males. This is in part due to a feed-forward loop between the interferons (anti-viral and anti-bacterial agents) and estrogen in females. see the details below in the link.
Link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25155581
Dear Divaker, Thanks so much. It would appear I have discovered an agent which leads to male death lagged behind female death. A bit complicated to explain. Attached two articles which may start to explain.
It is known, that sexual hormones have an influence on the immune system. There are several reviews available on this subject, e.g.: S. Oertelt-Prigione, The influence of sex and gender on the immune response, Autoimmun Rev, 11, A479-485, 2012. Perhaps this reference is interesting for you.
Many thanks Willem. After some more analysis it looks like the time lags may also have something to do with different routes to infection between males and females, however, the differential immune responses are of vital importance.