Characterization of the Effects of Early Sex-Hormone Environment Following Injury

Principal Investigator: Jason L. Sperry, MD, MPH
Institution: University of Pittsburgh

Although significant advances in the care of the injured patient have occurred over the last decade, those who survived their initial injury continue to be plagued with the development of multiple organ failure, sepsis and their attributable morbid effects. One important and persistent finding has been that males and females respond differently following traumatic injury and hemorrhagic shock, with a relative protection afforded to females. A large body of literature has evolved attempting to elucidate the mechanisms responsible for these differences; however, a significant divide continues to exist between what experimental animal investigations have revealed and what has been shown clinically in humans.

The ultimate elucidation of the mechanisms responsible for these outcome differences will allow future risk factors and therapeutic targets to be discovered and characterized, having significant potential to improve outcomes in both males and females following injury.

The goal of this study was to further characterize and investigate the early sex-hormone environment following injury and the associations of early estrogen and testosterone levels with the strength of the innate immune response, the coagulation response, resuscitation requirements and clinical outcomes following injury.