Experimental animal study reveals distinct age- and sex-dependent immune responses to lung injury in mice, suggesting the need for tailored therapeutic approaches.
Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) remains difficult to treat due to its heterogeneous etiology. In this study, a mouse model of intratracheal lipopolysaccharide (LPS) instillation was used to investigate age- and sex-dependent immune responses. After six hours of LPS exposure and one hour of mechanical ventilation, immune cell subtypes as well as mRNA and protein expression were analyzed. Aged mice exhibited a basal pro-inflammatory immune signature already under sham conditions, whereas young mice displayed a more balanced response with parallel pro- and anti-inflammatory mechanisms. Notably, aged female LPS treated mice exhibited an exclusively pro-inflammatory response. UMAP analysis revealed distinct clustering according to age, sex, and treatment, while aged male mice formed isolated clusters. These findings highlight the importance of considering age- and sex-specific therapeutic strategies for ARDS treatment.
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Crispens et al. (2026) studied this question.
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