Effect of gender on changes in immune cell composition during aging

A study by the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC-CNS), published in the journal Nature Aging, presented for the first time a detailed molecular map of the aging immune system, taking into account biological sex. The scientists analyzed blood samples from nearly a thousand adult volunteers, studying the activity of 20,000 genes in more than a million individual cells. The use of single-cell RNA sequencing technology, combined with the computational power of the MareNostrum 5 supercomputer, allowed them to capture patterns that were previously unavailable for observation using traditional methods of averaged biomaterial analysis.

According to the data obtained, the process of immune aging in women is more intense and is accompanied by a significant increase in the number of pro-inflammatory cells. These molecular changes explain the high statistical probability of developing autoimmune diseases in women, which account for up to 80% of all such clinical cases. The identified dynamics also confirm the biological causes of the exacerbation of chronic inflammatory pathologies after menopause, making the state of the immune system in older women a priority for precision medicine.

In men, the age-related transformation of immunity is characterized by a lower overall volume of changes, but it is accompanied by a specific increase in the number of blood cells with signs of preleukemic alterations. This fact provides a scientific explanation for why certain types of blood cancer are significantly more common in older men. At the same time, the male body remains more vulnerable to infectious agents, which is associated with a less reactive immune response compared to women, resulting in a different clinical picture of biological aging.

The results of this study highlight the importance of considering biological gender as a key variable in the development of diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. For a long time, women were underrepresented in such studies, which limited our understanding of their health at the molecular level. Now, the identification of gender-specific biomarkers allows us to create precise prevention and treatment protocols, providing a personalized approach in the context of global population aging and improving the effectiveness of medical interventions for both genders.