Biomedical research, for a long time, has paid little attention to the influence of sex in many areas of study, ranging from molecular and cellular biology to animal models and clinical studies on human subjects. Many studies solely rely on male cells/tissues/animals/humans, although there are profound differences in male and female physiology, which can significantly impact disease mechanisms, toxicity of compounds, and efficacy of pharmaceuticals. In vitro systems have been traditionally very limited in their capacity to recapitulate female‐specific physiology and anatomy such as dynamic sex‐hormone levels and the complex interdependencies of female reproductive tract organs. However, the advent of microphysiological organ‐on‐a‐chip systems, which attempt to recreate the 3D structure and function of human organs, now gives researchers the opportunity to integrate cells and tissues from a variety of individuals. Moreover, adding a dynamic flow environment allows mimicking endocrine signaling during the menstrual cycle and pregnancy, as well as providing a controlled microfluidic environment for pharmacokinetic modeling. This review gives an introduction into preclinical and clinical research on women's health and discusses where organ‐on‐a‐chip systems are already utilized or have the potential to deliver new insights and enable entirely new types of studies.

中文翻译：

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妇女健康应用的片上器官系统

长期以来，生物医学研究很少关注性别在许多研究领域中的影响，从分子和细胞生物学到动物模型以及对人类受试者的临床研究。尽管男性和女性的生理差异很大，但许多研究仅依赖于男性细胞/组织/动物/人类，这可能会显着影响疾病的机理，化合物的毒性和药物的功效。传统上，体外系统概括女性特有的生理和解剖结构（例如动态性激素水平和女性生殖道器官的复杂相互依赖性）的能力非常有限。但是，微生理片上器官系统的出现，试图重现人体器官的3D结构和功能，现在为研究人员提供了整合来自各种个体的细胞和组织的机会。此外，添加动态流动环境可以模拟月经周期和怀孕期间的内分泌信号传导，并为药代动力学建模提供受控的微流体环境。这篇综述介绍了有关妇女健康的临床前和临床研究，并讨论了芯片器官系统已被利用或有可能提供新见解并实现全新研究类型的潜力。