2012 Pilot Grant Awardee, Johns Hopkins
Dr. Jennifer Mammen, Instructor in Endocrinology, is studying the ways in which gender affects autoimmune disorders, or conditions that occur when the immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys healthy body tissue. These disorders affect women more frequently than men, but the specific effects of gender are not clear. Dr. Mammen and her team focus their research on thyroid disease, which shows an overwhelming female bias. Biphasic thyroiditis, for example, frequently appears in women after pregnancy. Characterized by lymphocytic gland infiltration, this postpartum thyroid disease usually occurs in women with anti-thyroid peroxidase (anti-TPO) antibodies. Dr. Mammen’s team has found that interferon (IFNa) causes high rates of biphasic thyroiditis in women more often than men at a ratio of 8:1. This suggests the direct role of interferon in causing or spreading thyroid autoimmunity. Dr. Mammen’s team is using both in vitro and in vivo techniques to study the effects of inflammatory activation (mediated by interferons) on the autoimmune target itself. The study looks at gender-specific variability in the expression of thyroid genes such as those regulated by IFNa and/or estradiol.
Awarded: $50,000
What is her research on?
The treatment of thyroid disease in women, who make up 70% of patients with low function of the gland (hypothyroidism).
Why Study the Treatment of Hypothyroidism in women?
There is a growing body of evidence that hypothyroidism has been treated too aggressively, particularly for female patients; The Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging reported that 20% of patients with low-functioning thyroid were being overtreated.
What did Dr. Mammen find? How did the Foundation for Gender-Specific Medicine’s grant specifically help her research?
The original grant from our foundation supported Doctor Mammen’s initial studies on the gender-specific treatment of thyroid disease and led to work that resulted in her winning the prestigious career development award from the NIH as well as her first NIH-supported research grant, called an RO1.
Current Status:
Her paper reporting her findings is finished and online now; it shows the higher rates of overtreatment in women are due to differences in body composition. The use of BMI based on body weight is incorrect in calculating the dose needed for thyroid hormone replacement.