Study finds how medication affect men, women differently

California: Researchers have created a powerful new tool to better understand how medications affect men and women differently, which will help lead to safer, more effective drugs in the future.

Women are known to experience a disproportionate amount of liver disorders as a result of medication. They are, however, generally underrepresented in drug testing. To address this, UVA researchers created sophisticated computer simulations of male and female livers and utilised them to identify sex-specific distinctions in how medications affect the tissues.

The new model has already revealed unique insights into the biological processes that occur in both men’s and women’s livers, the organ responsible for detoxification. However, the model represents a valuable new tool for drug research, assisting in ensuring that new treatments do not have detrimental side effects.

“There are incredibly complex networks of genes and proteins that control how cells respond to drugs,” said UVA researcher Jason Papin, PhD, one of the model’s creators. “We knew that a computer model would be required to try to answer these important clinical questions, and we’re hopeful these models will continue to provide insights that can improve healthcare.”