Study of the Sex Differences in Inflammatory Diseases in Children

Summary

Sexual differences in innate immune response have been demonstrated and were mainly attributed to the influence of the sex steroids (1-18). However, recent clinical data revealed significant differences in inflammatory markers between boys and girls suffering from acute and chronic inflammatory diseases (19-23). Sex hormone levels in prepubertal children are particularly low and insufficient to explain the gender differences observed in inflammatory conditions from neonates to the elderly, suggesting the contribution of another mechanism, such as the influence of genes situated on the sex chromosomes and involved in the inflammatory response.

The aim of this work is to evaluate the role of the X chromosome in the sex differences in inflammatory diseases in children. In order to discriminate more precisely the role of the X chromosome relatively to the sex steroids in the sex-specific inflammatory response, some innate immune functions related to X-linked genes will be evaluated in whole blood from prepubertal children of both sexes, suffering from acute inflammatory processes such as pyelonephritis caused by Escherichia coli, pneumonia with pleural effusion caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae or sepsis

Conditions

• Sex Differences in Immune Response
• Acute Inflammatory Diseases in Children

Interventions

OTHER

Blood collection

Blood samples collections to evaluation of the potential role of the sex chromosomes in the innate immune response by analyzing inflammatory cytokine production (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, TNF-α and IFN-α), studying the cell diapedesis receptor CD99 on PMNs, monocytes, and lymphocytes, analyzing the contribution of X-linked genes of the TLR pathways and the influence of X-linked miRNAs.

OTHER

Stool collection

Fecal sample collection to delineate microbiome contribution, we will study the gut microbiota in faecal samples obtained from the recruited patients.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Belgium Kid's Fund

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Queen Fabiola Children's University Hospital

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Alexandros Popotals, MD · HUDERF

Study Design

Allocation

NON_RANDOMIZED

Purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

6 Months

Max Age

7 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2019-08-17

Primary Completion

2023-12-31

Completion

2023-12-31

Countries

• Belgium

Study Locations