Respiratory Sex Differences in Response to Smoke Exposure

Rebuli, Meghan E.

Smoke exposure is ubiquitous throughout the world and prevalent in a variety of types including tobacco smoke, wildfire smoke, and biomass and wood smoke. These exposures have all been shown to induce deleterious effects in the respiratory tract and induce lung disease. Additionally, there is considerable epidemiological evidence of smoke exposure-induced sex-biased disease; however, there have been few investigations into mechanisms behind this sex-biased disease manifestation. This chapter will describe what is known about sex differences in smoke exposure, exposure-induced disease, and mechanisms of effects. Additionally, it will enumerate areas of critical need for future investigation to fully understand sex-specific respiratory effects of smoke exposure.