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Yanguas-Casás. Neuroimmunol Neuroinflammation 2020;7:13-22 Neuroimmunology
DOI: 10.20517/2347-8659.2019.31 and Neuroinflammation

Review Open Access

Physiological sex differences in microglia and their
relevance in neurological disorders

Natalia Yanguas-Casás

Grupo de Investigación en Linfomas, Instituto Investigación Sanitaria Puerta de Hierro-Segovia de Arana (IDIPHISA), Majadahonda
28222, Spain.
Correspondence to: Dr. Natalia Yanguas-Casás, Grupo de Investigación en Linfomas, Instituto Investigación Sanitaria Puerta de
Hierro-Segovia de Arana (IDIPHISA), Majadahonda 28222, Spain. E-mail: nyanguas@idiphim.org
How to cite this article: Yanguas-Casás N. Physiological sex differences in microglia and their relevance in neurological disorders.
Neuroimmunol Neuroinflammation 2020;7:13-22. http://dx.doi.org/10.20517/2347-8659.2019.31

Received: 31 Dec 2019 First Decision: 5 Feb 2020 Revised: 11 Feb 2020 Accepted: 17 Feb 2020 Published: 21 Mar 2020

Science Editor: Jeffrey Bajramovic Copy Editor: Jing-Wen Zhang Production Editor: Tian Zhang

Abstract
Microglia are the resident immune cells in the brain and maintain homeostasis and functionality of this tissue. These cells
are key producers of immune mediators, such as cytokines and chemokines, are critical for normal brain development,
and affect neurogenesis, axonal migration, synapse formation and function, and programmed cell death, among others.
Sex differences exist in many of these processes throughout brain development up to adulthood and the aged brain. In
the last few years, sex differences in microglia responses, brain colonization, and number and morphology within the
developing brain have drawn the attention of researchers as a potential explanation to the sex differences in the brain
and due to their potential relevance in the incidence, prevalence, and outcome of many neurological disorders. In this
review, we summarize the sex differences of microglial cell functions and their potential relevance in physiological as well
as pathological conditions in the brain.

Keywords: Microglia, sex differences, functional responses, neurological disorders

INTRODUCTION
There is a differential sex-susceptibility, penetrance, and outcome in neurological disorders. An important
inflammatory component goes along with these disorders, and microglia, the immune resident cells of the
Central Nervous System (CNS), play a pivotal role in the triggering and resolution of neuroinflammatory
[1]
processes . As the main regulators of immune responses in the CNS, they have come into focus recently
due to their potential contribution to the sex differences found in neurological disorders. In this review,

© The Author(s) 2020. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use,
sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, for any purpose, even commercially, as long
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