# Knowledge gaps and research priorities to understand sex differences in immunity

## TL;DR

This paper discusses how immunity differs between males and females, and highlights the need for more research to understand these differences and improve sex-specific treatments.

## Contribution

The paper identifies key research priorities to uncover the mechanisms behind sex differences in immunity.

## Key findings

- Sex differences in immunity affect disease susceptibility and treatment responses.
- Research is needed to understand the cellular and signaling pathways behind these differences.
- Knowledge of sex-specific immune mechanisms can lead to better tailored treatments.

## Abstract

Differences in immunity in males and females throughout the life span manifest as differences in susceptibility to chronic diseases, infections, cancer, and responses to therapeutic interventions such as immunomodulatory drugs and vaccines. Sex steroids and sex chromosome-linked immune response genes have major roles in driving these differences, but the cells and signaling pathways governing these are disease-specific and often not known. Such knowledge is required to better understand sex differences in disease incidence and clinical course, and to provide treatments tailored to sex-divergent pathways underlying specific diseases. This Essay explores the major areas where further research is required to determine sex-differential mechanisms.

Immunity differs profoundly according to biological sex, leading to sex differences in autoimmunity, infections, cancer and responses to immunotherapy and vaccines. This Essay explores the major areas where further research is required to determine sex-differential mechanisms in immunity.