Probing the impact of sex steroids and menopause-related sex steroid deprivation on modulation of immune senescence

Immune senescence denotes the general decline in immune system function, characterized by a reduced immune response and an increased inflammatory state. Menopause is a natural change in a women's life, the menopause-related low estrogen levels affecting many body functions, among them the immune system. Numerous human studies with menopausal women and animal models with surgically induced menopause show a clear impact of sex steroids in immune responses. Female superiority in vaccination response and predisposition to infections are eliminated after menopause, while during menopause inflammatory cytokines such as Tumor Necrosis Factor-α (TNF-α), Interleukins-1β, 6, 8 and 13 (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-13) and Monocyte Chemoattractant Protein-1 (MCP-1) are increased, implying a molecular connection of sex steroid loss with immune senescence. Moreover, immune cells modify their number and function after the menopausal transition, this offering another explanation for immune senescence. Until now most of the existing studies have concluded that menopause plays an additional role to aging in immune senescence. While it is clear that we are as yet far from thoroughly understanding the molecular pathways connecting sex steroids and menopause with immune senescence, such knowledge is highly likely to enable future targeted interventions in treatment and prevention of age-related diseases in women.