Study: Ozone affects females more than men

Hershey, Pa. -- A Penn State University College of Medicine study suggests air pollution has a more significant effect on the immune systems of females than of males.

Researchers studied mice exposed to ozone and then infected with pneumonia. Significantly more females than males died from the infection.

"If we could extrapolate what we found to the human population, it would mean women with lung infections may be at higher risk for negative outcomes if they are exposed to high amounts of air pollution, and in particular, ozone," said Professor Joanna Floros.

In the study, mice were exposed for three hours either to filtered air or to air with high levels of ozone. They then were infected with a pneumonia bacteria and monitored for two weeks.

The findings, among other things, showed mice exposed to ozone before infection died more often than did mice that had breathed only filtered air.

And ozone exposure significantly decreased the likelihood of surviving pneumonia exposure for the female mice compared with males.

The research, led by senior post-doctoral fellow Anatoly Mikerov, is ongoing.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International.