Browsing by Subject "Sex differences"

Now showing 1 - 13 of 13
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    Acute pre-learning stress and declarative memory: impact of sex, cortisol response and menstrual cycle phase
    (Elsevier, 2013-04-12) Espín López, Laura; Almela, Mercedes; Hidalgo, Vanesa; Villada, Carolina; Salvador, Alicia; Gómez Amor, Jesús; Anatomía Humana y Psicobiología; Facultades de la UMU::Facultad de Psicología y Logopedia
    This study explores the influence of pre-learning stress on performance on declarative memory tasks in healthy young adults in relation to sex and menstrual cycle phase. The sample was composed of 119 students (32 men and 87 women) from 18 to 25 years of age. The women were tested in different hormonal stages (30 in follicular phase, 34 in luteal phase, and 23 using oral contraceptives). The participants were exposed to the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) or a control condition. Afterwards, their memory performance was measured using a standardized memory test (Rey's Auditory Verbal Learning Test). In the control condition, all groups of women recalled more words than men, but these differences disappeared in the group exposed to TSST because men's performance on the memory test improved, but only to the level of women. In addition, our data suggest that in women the relationship between cortisol and memory can be modulated by sex hormone levels, since in luteal women a negative relationship was found between memory performance and peak cortisol level. These results confirm that sex differences need to be considered in the relationship between pre-learning stress and memory performance.
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    Autonomic, hormonal, and subjective responses to a modified version of the TSST: a pilot study
    (Universidad de Murcia. Servicio de Publicaciones, 2021) Salvador, Alicia; Gómez-Amor, Jesús; Espín López, Laura
    El objetivo de esta investigación fue estudiar las respuestas hormonales, autonómicas y afectivas a una versión modificada del estresor TSST en una muestra de jóvenes universitarios compuesta de treinta y ocho sujetos (11 hombres y veintisiete mujeres, 11 en la fase lútea del ciclo menstrual, 16 mujeres en la fase folicular). La respuesta hormonal se evaluó con niveles de cortisol. La frecuencia cardíaca y la actividad electrodérmica se registraron durante toda la sesión experimental y la ansiedad rasgo y estado se evaluaron antes y después de la tarea. La fase de discurso provocó la frecuencia cardíaca más alta, la mayor frecuencia de respuestas inespecíficas y el mayor nivel de conductancia de la piel, mostrando diferencias significativas con la fase de habituación. Sin embargo, la respuesta de cortisol salival no fue significativa con respecto al factor estresante. En relación con las diferencias de sexo, independientemente del factor estresante, los hombres mostraron una mayor frecuencia de respuesta inespecífica, un mayor nivel de conductancia de la piel que las mujeres y mayores niveles de cortisol en comparación con las mujeres en la fase lútea. La ansiedad estado fue similar pre y postarea y no reveló ninguna diferencia asociada con el sexo o la fase del ciclo menstrual. Nuestros resultados sugieren que el eje HHA no responde al TSST sentado y proporcionó evidencia de que el TSST provoca diferentes patrones de respuesta psicofisiológica dependiendo de algunas variaciones del protocolo.
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    Dataset of the project: Una Posible Diana Terapeutica para Bloquear la Progresión del Glioblastoma: la Autofagia Mediada por Chaperonas en Pericitos (PID2020-114010RB-I00)
    (2026-02-09) Rodríguez, Pablo; Rubio Pedraza, Gonzalo; Valdor Alonso, Rut; Salinas Hidalgo, María Dolores; Bioquímica y Biología Molecular B e Inmunología
    Glioblastoma (GB) is one of the most aggressive and treatment-resistant cancers due to its complex tumor microenvironment (TME). We previously showed that GB progression is dependent on the aberrant induction of chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA) in pericytes (PCs), which promotes TME immunosuppression through the PC secretome
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    Disproportionate cybersexual victimization of women from adolescence into midlife in Spain: implications for targeted protection and prevention
    (MDPI, 2025-11-17) Mármol, Carlos J.; Luna, Aurelio; Legaz Pérez, Isabel; Ciencias Sociosanitarias; Facultad de Química
    Cybersexual victimization is a growing public health concern with severe psychosocial consequences, particularly for younger populations. Despite growing awareness of its prevalence, understanding how cybersexual victimization evolves across different demographic and regional contexts remains limited. The aim was to analyze sex- and age-specific temporal trends and projections of cybersexual victimization in Spain (2011–2022), disaggregated by sex, age group, autonomous community, and offense type, to identify where disparities emerge and persist (particularly from adolescence (<18) into midlife) while also examining gender and regional inequalities to provide evidence for prevention strategies that are both gender-sensitive and tailored to different developmental stages and territorial contexts. Spanish national police-reported data on seven cybersexual offenses (sexual abuse, sexual harassment, corruption of minors, grooming, exhibitionism, child sexual abuse images, and sexual provocation) from 2011 to 2022 were analyzed. Data were disaggregated by sex, age group, and regions. Mean rates per 100,000 inhabitants were calculated, independent-sample t-tests assessed sex differences, and linear regression models projected trends to 2035 for each age-sex group. Between 2011 and 2022, cybersexual crimes in Spain increased across most offense types, with grooming, child sexual abuse images, and contact offenses showing the steepest upward trends (all p < 0.001). Women consistently presented higher mean victimization rates than men in most offense types and age groups. Among those under 18, mean grooming rates were 2.55 for females versus 0.95 per 100,000 for males (p < 0.001), with significant differences also in corruption of minors (p < 0.01). In young adulthood (18–25 years), women showed higher rates in sexual harassment (p < 0.001) and sexual abuse (p < 0.01), while, in midlife (26–40 and 41–50 years), female predominance persisted for sexual harassment, sexual abuse, and sexual provocation (all p < 0.05). Projections to 2035 indicate that sex gaps will remain or widen, particularly among females under 18 and in the 26–40 age group. The Balearic, Canary Islands, and Andalusia regions recorded the highest mean rates, whereas Galicia and Castilla-La Mancha reported the lowest. Cybersexual victimization in Spain disproportionately affects females from adolescence into midlife, with the most considerable disparities emerging before age 18 and persisting into adulthood. The combination of rapid offense growth, persistent sex-based disparities, and marked regional inequalities underscores the urgent need for gender-sensitive, developmentally targeted prevention strategies that address both early vulnerability and the reinforcement of risk in adult digital environments.
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    Effects of sex and menstrual cycle phase on cardiac response and alpha- amylase levels in psychosocial stress
    (Elsevier, 2019-01) Espín López, Laura; Villada, Carolina; Hidalgo, Vanesa; Salvador, Alicia; Anatomía Humana y Psicobiología; Facultades de la UMU::Facultad de Psicología y Logopedia
    The impact of sex and the menstrual cycle phase on the autonomic response to psychosocial stress remains controversial. This study explored autonomic nervous system activity through salivary alpha-amylase, heart rate, and heart rate variability responses to the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) in healthy young people. The sample was composed of 25 men, 26 women in the luteal phase, and 25 women in the follicular phase, from 18 to 25 years of age. Participants were exposed to the TSST or a control condition. The results indicate that women in their follicular phase showed a blunted alpha-amylase response to stress compared to men and women in the luteal phase. In addition, men showed higher sympatho-vagal activity in the stress condition compared to the two groups of women. These results confirm that sex and the menstrual cycle phase are potential modulators of autonomic nervous system reactivity to psychosocial stress.
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    Expression of lumican and osteopontin in perivascular areas of the glioblastoma peritumoral niche and its value for prognosis
    (MDPI, 2024-12-29) Rodríguez, Pablo; Rubio Pedraza, Gonzalo; Salinas Hidalgo, María Dolores; Valdor Alonso, Rut; Bioquímica y Biología Molecular B e Inmunología
    Glioblastoma (GB) is one of the most aggressive and treatment-resistant cancers due to its complex tumor microenvironment (TME). We previously showed that GB progression is dependent on the aberrant induction of chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA) in pericytes (PCs), which promotes TME immunosuppression through the PC secretome. The secretion of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins with anti-tumor (Lumican) and pro-tumoral (Osteopontin, OPN) properties was shown to be dependent on the regulation of GB-induced CMA in PCs. As biomarkers are rarely studied in TME, in this work, we aimed to validate Lumican and OPN as prognostic markers in the perivascular areas of the peritumoral niche of a cohort of GB patients. Previously, we had validated their expression in GB xenografted mice presenting GB infiltration (OPN) or GB elimination (Lumican) dependent on competent or deficient CMA PCs, respectively. Then, patient sample classification by GB infiltration into the peritumoral brain parenchyma was related to GB-induced CMA in microvasculature PCs, analyzing the expression of the lysosomal receptor, LAMP-2A. Our results revealed a correlation between GB-induced CMA activity in peritumoral PCs and GB patients’ outcomes, identifying three degrees of severity. The perivascular expression of both immune activation markers, Iba1 and CD68, was related to CMA-dependent PC immune function and determined as useful for efficient GB prognosis. Lumican expression was identified in perivascular areas of patients with less severe outcome and partially co-localizing with PCs presenting low CMA activity, while OPN was primarily found in perivascular areas of patients with poor outcome and partially co-localizing with PCs presenting high CMA activity. Importantly, we found sex differences in the incidence of middle-aged patients, being significantly higher in men but with worse prognosis in women. Our results confirmed that Lumican and OPN in perivascular areas of the GB peritumoral niche are effective predictive biomarkers for evaluating prognosis and monitoring possible therapeutic immune responses dependent on PCs in tumor progression.
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    Magnesium in Kidney Function and Disease—Implications for Aging and Sex—A Narrative Review
    (2023-03) Macías Ruiz, María del Carmen; Cuenca, Lorena; Veronese, Nicola; Fernández Villalba, Emiliano; Kublickiene, Karolina; Raparelli, Valeria; Norris, Colleen M.; Kautzky-Willer, Alexandra; Pilote, Louise; Barbagallo, Mario; Dominguez, Ligia; González Cuello, Ana María; Herrero Ezquerro, María Trinidad; Enfermería
    Magnesium (Mg) has a vital role in the human body, and the kidney is a key organ in the metabolism and excretion of this cation. The objective of this work is to compile the available evidence regarding the role that Mg plays in health and disease, with a special focus on the elderly population with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and the eventual sex differences. A narrative review was carried out by executing an exhaustive search in the PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane databases. Ten studies were found in which the role of Mg and sex was evaluated in elderly patients with CKD in the last 10 years (2012–2022). The progression of CKD leads to alterations in mineral metabolism, which worsen as the disease progresses. Mg can be used as a coadjuvant in the treatment of CKD patients to improve glomerular filtration, but its use in clinical applications needs to be further characterized. In conclusion, there’s a need for well-designed prospective clinical trials to advise and standardize Mg supplementation in daily clinical practice, taking age and sex into consideration.
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    No effects of psychosocial stress on memory retrieval in non-treated young students with Generalized Social Phobia
    (2016) Espín López, Laura; Marquina, Mónica; Hidalgo, Vanesa; Salvador, Alicia; Gómez Amor, Jesús; Anatomía Humana y Psicobiología
    Generalized Social Phobia (GSP) is a common anxiety disorder that produces clear social life disrup- tions. There is no consensus on the specific processes involved in its development, but the role of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis has been suggested. This study analyzed the effects of the cortisol response to the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) on the memory retrieval of pictures with differ- ent emotional valences in 45 non-treated young students with GSP and 50 non-anxious (NA) subjects (mean = 19.35 years, SD = 0.18). No differences were found in the cortisol response of GSP and NA sub- jects to the TSST and control sessions. In addition, psychosocial stress impaired memory retrieval in both the GSP and NA groups, with no differences between them. Regarding the sex factor, no effects were found in the cortisol response to the TSST. However, during the encoding session, GSP men had higher cortisol levels than GSP women and NA subjects. There was also a significant interaction between sex and stress exposure on memory retrieval. Women recognized more unpleasant and neutral pictures than men; however, under stress, the women’s advantage disappeared, and the men’s performance improved. Sex also interacted with social phobia on positive mood, with GSP women exposed to the TSST showing the lowest positive mood. These results suggest that GSP subjects do not present an HPA axis sensitiza- tion to psychosocial stress, and they emphasize the importance of Sex in understanding stress effects on memory.
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    Sex differences in vanadium inhalation effects in non-ciliated bronchiolar cells
    (Universidad de Murcia. Departamento de Biología Celular e Histología, 2023) López Valdez, Nelly; Rojas Lemus, Marcela; Bizarro Nevares, Martha Patricia; González Villalva, Adriana Elizabeth; Ustarroz Cano, Martha Luz; Casarrubias Tabarez, Brenda; Guerrero Palomo, Gabriela; Cervantes Valencia, María Eugenia; Rivera Fernández, Norma; Imelda Fortoul, Teresa
    The non-ciliated bronchiolar cell (NCBC) is responsible for the defense of the lung and responds to negative stimuli such as exposure to toxic pro-oxidant substances, which triggers the hyperproduction and hypersecretion of mucins and CC16 protein. The literature demonstrates that physiological and pathological responses in the lung can be influenced by the organism’s sex. The objective of this report was to evaluate response differences to vanadium inhalation in male and female CD-1 mice. Mice were exposed to vanadium for four weeks. Hyperplasia of bronchiolar epithelium, small inflammatory foci and sloughing of the NCBC were observed, without changes between sexes and throughout the exposure time. Mucosecretory metaplasia was found in both males and females, however it was more drastic in males. The expression of CC16 increased in both sexes. This study demonstrated a different susceptibility between male and female mice exposed to vanadium inhalation regarding mucosecretory metaplasia.
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    Sex differences on cognitive reflection
    (Universidad de Murcia. Servicio de Publicaciones, 2023) Olalde, Blanca Rosa; Palacios, Santiago
    La prueba de reflexión cognitiva o CRT (Cognitive Reflection Test) es una medida popular diseñada para distinguir el procesamiento del pensamiento intuitivo del analítico. Se han encontrado diferencias de sexo en el CRT en múltiples estudios. En esta investigación se estudia la influencia del componente matemático en las diferencias de sexo utilizando dos instrumentos diferentes para medir la reflexión cognitiva: el CRT original y una versión ampliada del original, ambos con un alto componente aritmético y, por otro lado, un conjunto de cinco tareas heurísticas clásicas, denominadas CHT, con un contenido numérico más bajo. Los resultados muestran que estas diferencias de sexo desaparecen cuando se reduce el carácter matemático de las tareas. Finalmente, en este trabajo se aborda una forma más elaborada de puntuar las respuestas intuitivas en relación con el significado de estas diferencias.
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    Sex-dependent hypertension and renal changes in aged rats with altered renal development
    (2014-08-15) Saez, Fara; Reverte, Virginia; Paliege, Alexander; Moreno, Juan Manuel; Llinás Más, María Teresa; Bachmann, Sebastían; Salazar, Francisco Javier; Fisiología
    Numerous studies have evaluated blood pressure (BP) and renal changes in several models of developmental programming of hypertension. The present study examined to what extent BP, renal hemodynamic, and renal structure are affected at an old age in male and female animals with altered renal development. It also evaluated whether renal damage is associated with changes in cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 and neuronal nitric oxide synthase (NOS1) expression and immunoreactivity. Experiments were carried out in rats at 10–11 and 16–17 mo of age treated with vehicle or an ANG II type 1 receptor antagonist during the nephrogenic period (ARAnp). A progressive increment in BP and a deterioration of renal hemodynamics were found in both sexes of ARAnp-treated rats, with these changes being greater (P < 0.05) in male rats. The decrease in glomerular filtration rate at the oldest age was greater (P < 0.05) in male (74%) than female (32%) ARAnp-treated rats. Sex-dependent deterioration of renal structure was demonstrated in optical and electron microscopic experiments. COX-2 and NOS1 immunoreactivity were enhanced in the macula densa of male but not female ARAnp-treated rats. The present study reports novel findings suggesting that stimuli that induce a decrease of ANG II effects during renal development lead to a progressive increment in BP and renal damage at an old age in both sexes, but these BP and renal changes are greater in males than in females. The renal damage is associated with an increase of COX-2 and NOS1 in the macula densa of males but not females with altered renal development.
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    Sex-related differences in the morphology of rectal mucosa-associated lymphoid tissues in C57BL/6NCrSlc mice
    (Universidad de Murcia, Departamento de Biologia Celular e Histiologia, 2025) Rubel, Md. Zahir Uddin; Masum, Md. Abdul; Namba, Takashi; Hiraishi, Masaya; Kon, Yasuhiro; Ichii, Osamu; Biología Celular e Histología
    Sex hormones regulate gut function and mucosal immunity; however, their specific effects on the mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) in the rectum of mammals remain unclear. Here, we aimed to investigate the influence of sex on MALT in the rectum of mammals by focusing on the rectal mucosa-associated lymphoid tissues (RMALTs) of C57BL/6NCrSlc mice. Histological analysis revealed that RMALTs were predominantly located in the lamina propria and submucosa of the rectal mucosa, with a significant sex-related difference in the distance from the anorectal junction to the first appearance of the RMALT. Despite similar RMALT numbers, females exhibited significant-ly larger RMALTs than males. Immunostaining revealed the presence of various immune cells, including T cells, B cells, macrophages, proliferative immune cells, lymphatic vessels, and high endothelial venules (HEVs), in RMALTs. Compared with males, females showed elevated T cell, helper T cell, and cytotoxic T-cell gene expression levels, along with high percentages of specific T-cell subsets. The factors influencing RMALT development, such as the presence of HEVs, C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 13 expression, and RMALT-containing cell proliferation, were also explored. Overall, this study revealed the detailed attributes of RMALTs, their immune cell composition, and their determinants in male and female mice, providing insights into the sex-specific characteristics of the rectal mucosal immune system.
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    The impact of cortisol reactivity to acute stress on memory: Sex differences in middle-aged people
    (Taylor and Francis Group, 2011) Espín López, Laura; Almela, Mercedes; Hidalgo, Teresa; Villada, Carolina; Gómez Amor, Jesús; Salvador, Alicia; Anatomía Humana y Psicobiología; Facultades de la UMU::Facultad de Psicología y Logopedia
    Stress has been identified as a main factor involved in the cognitive changes that occur during the aging process. This study investigated sex differences in the relationship between the magnitude of the acute stress-induced salivary cortisol response and memory performance among middle-aged people. To this end, 16 men and 16 women (aged 54–72 years) were exposed to the Trier Social Stress Test and a control condition in a crossover design. Afterwards their memory performance was measured using a standardized memory test (Rey’s Auditory Verbal Learning Test). Only among women, there was an acute impact of stress on memory performance and a significant relationship between a higher cortisol response to the stressor and poorer memory performance in both the stress and control conditions. Additionally, a poorer memory performance was related to earlier timing of sexual maturation (age at menarche), which was also marginally related to higher cortisol reactivity to stress. These results confirm that sex is a critical factor in the relationship between cortisol and poor memory performance. Furthermore, the findings emphasize a strong link between the individual cortisol response to stress and memory functioning among postmenopausal women.