Toward a Systematic Assessment of Sex Differences in Cystic Fibrosis.

(1)

Background

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a disease with well-documented clinical differences between female and male patients. However, this gender gap is very poorly studied at the molecular level. (2)

Methods

Expression differences in whole blood transcriptomics between female and male CF patients are analyzed in order to determine the pathways related to sex-biased genes and assess their potential influence on sex-specific effects in CF patients. (3)

Results

We identify sex-biased genes in female and male CF patients and provide explanations for some sex-specific differences at the molecular level. (4)

Conclusion

Genes in key pathways associated with CF are differentially expressed between sexes, and thus may account for the gender gap in morbidity and mortality in CF.