Table 3.

Sex difference in innate and adaptive immune response based on data from humans and rodents

Immune cells	Characteristic	Sex difference
Innate immune system
Dendritic cells	IFN activity	higher in females
Macrophages	activation and phagocytic ability proinflammatory cytokine production	higher in females higher in males
Neutrophils	phagocytic ability	higher in females
NK cells	NK cell number	higher in males
Adaptive immune system
T cells	CD4+ T cell number CD8+ T cell number CD4+/CD8+ T cell ratio Th1 and Th2 cells	higher in females higher in males higher in females Th2 cell bias in females Th1 cell bias in males
B cells	B cell number and activity	higher in females

IFN, interferon; NK, natural killer; Th1, type 1 T helper; Th2, type 2 T helper.