The role of sex steroids in mammalian maturation is well established. Recently, it has been increasingly appreciated that sex steroids also play an important role in the propensity of adults to develop a myriad of diseases. The exposure and responsiveness of tissues to sex steroids varies among individuals and between the sexes, and this has been correlated with gender-specific differences in the composition of the intestinal microbiota and in susceptibility to metabolic, autoimmune, and neoplastic diseases. Here we focus on recent studies that demonstrate an interplay between sex steroids, the intestinal immune response, and the intestinal microbiota. While correlations between biological sex, the intestinal innate immune response, intestinal inflammation, and intestinal microbiota have been established, many gaps in our knowledge prevent the emergence of an overarching model for this complex interaction. Such a model could aid in the development of prebiotic, probiotic, or synthetic therapeutics that decrease the risk of autoimmune, metabolic, neoplastic, and infectious diseases of the intestine and mitigate the particular health risks faced by individuals receiving sex steroid treatment.

性类固醇在哺乳动物成熟中的作用已得到公认。最近，人们越来越意识到性类固醇也在成年人患多种疾病的倾向中发挥重要作用。组织对性类固醇的暴露和反应因个体和性别而异，这与肠道微生物群组成的性别特异性差异以及对代谢、自身免疫和肿瘤疾病的易感性有关。在这里，我们关注最近的研究，这些研究证明了性类固醇、肠道免疫反应和肠道微生物群之间的相互作用。虽然已经建立了生物性别、肠道先天免疫反应、肠道炎症和肠道微生物群之间的相关性，我们知识中的许多差距阻止了这种复杂相互作用的总体模型的出现。这种模型可以帮助开发益生元、益生菌或合成疗法，以降低肠道自身免疫、代谢、肿瘤和传染病的风险，并减轻接受性类固醇治疗的个体面临的特定健康风险。