Gender specific medicine in liver diseases: A point of view

Table 1 Gender differences in primary biliary cirrhosis and autoimmune hepatitis

Primary biliary cirrhosis	Autoimmune hepatitis
M/F ratio 1:10	M/F ratio 1:3.6
Age at diagnosis higher in M than in F (62 yr vs 51 yr)	Normalization of ALT levels after 6 mo of corticosteroid treatment less frequent in M than in F
M less symptomatic than F: pruritus, abdominal pain/discomfort and constitutional symptoms more common in F; jaundice and upper gastrointestinal bleeding more common in M	Better long-term survival and outcome in M than F
Concomitant autoimmune diseases more common in F (sicca syndrome, sclerodermia, raynaud phenomenon), whereas HCC complication are significantly greater in M	Decrease of severity during second trimester of pregnancy and possible onset of acute exacerbation after delivery
ALP, ALT and gGT higher in M than F	Haplotype HLA A1-B8-DR3 more prevalent in M than in F
Piecemealnecrosis and pseudoxanthomatous	Higher frequency of concurrent immunological
trasformation greater in symptomatic F	disorders at presentation in F than M

HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma; ALP: Alkaline phosphatase; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; gGT: Gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase; HLA: Human leukocyte antigen; F: Female; M: Male.