Asthma is a heterogeneous disease affecting nearly 300 million people around the world. It is the most common chronic respiratory disease of childhood. There are significant sex differences in asthma incidence, severity, and morbidity around the time of puberty. The reasons for these peripubertal changes are still not fully understood, but they are likely multifactorial. In this review, we will discuss several proposed contributing mechanisms, including sex differences in anatomy and development, the effects of sex hormones on airway inflammation and reactivity, the immunomodulatory effects of sex hormones, differences in mucociliary function, and sex differences in genetic and epigenetic factors.

Peripubertal changes in asthma

Giuliana Ferrante;
2026-01-01

Abstract

Asthma is a heterogeneous disease affecting nearly 300 million people around the world. It is the most common chronic respiratory disease of childhood. There are significant sex differences in asthma incidence, severity, and morbidity around the time of puberty. The reasons for these peripubertal changes are still not fully understood, but they are likely multifactorial. In this review, we will discuss several proposed contributing mechanisms, including sex differences in anatomy and development, the effects of sex hormones on airway inflammation and reactivity, the immunomodulatory effects of sex hormones, differences in mucociliary function, and sex differences in genetic and epigenetic factors.
2026
asthma
asthma phenotypes
dysanapsis
puberty
sex hormones
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
Silva_American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine 2026.pdf

solo utenti autorizzati

Tipologia: Altro materiale allegato
Licenza: Non specificato
Dimensione 10.92 MB
Formato Adobe PDF
10.92 MB Adobe PDF   Visualizza/Apri   Richiedi una copia

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11562/1206247
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus 0
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 0
social impact