The Research Center in Food Toxicology Toxalim (UMR 1331 INRA/INP/UPS) is organizing a one-day scientific symposium on the topic of sexual dimorphism in toxicology and health, which will focus on both questions of sex differences in biology, and the impact of gender on scientific inputs.
Sexual dimorphism represents the phenotypic differences (physiological and behavioral) between individuals of different sex within the same species. It is an important issue in pre-clinical and clinical research (the inclusion of women in clinical research has become mandatory since 1993 for the NIH (NIH revitalization act)). However, in pre-clinical research and more specifically in toxicology, this revolution has not taken place yet, either in the development of experimental designs, or in data analysis of research on animal or cellular models. This over-representation of male model data obscures potentially important sex differences to guide clinical (animal or human) research or risk assessment. And this can be deleterious: women are more prone to the side effects of drugs than men. What about environmental toxins? In animals, different toxic effects between males and females have been described. In some cases, the link with specific hepatic detoxification mechanisms has been established.
The objectives of this symposium will be:
- to strengthen the audience's knowledge on the topic of sexual dimorphism
- to present some of the molecular mechanisms that govern sexual dimorphism in models commonly used in toxicological research
- to question the role of gender in developing research questions
- to stimulate discussion about the relevance of including both sexes in studies (animal and cellular models)
Oral presentations (flash communications) related to these questions are welcome!
Registration is free, and on a first-come first-served basis (number of attendees is limited to 150). Participants must take care for their trip to Toulouse and accommodation in the area.
Deadline for registration and abstract sumission: 19 March 2018
