The male liver can change sex activity in response to disease in what could be a ego - protective physiologic answer , new enquiry suggests . The finding come from the University of Queensland , where researcher key out that more forward-looking liver damage was associate with a more “ effeminize ” liver , both in male mice and humans .

The surprisal determination is described in a new newspaper publisher publish in the journalPNAS , which used a computer mouse theoretical account to investigate the upshot of switch off cistron link with the circadian clock to see how their bodies responded to a variety in diet .

They had arrange out to look for insights as to why a to-do in nap convention is associated withmetabolic and liver diseases . However , it was during these investigations that the surprisal sex activity variety became seeming .

“ When a gamey - fat diet was fed to shiner that had their circadian clock gene turned off , we await them to prepare diabetes or non - alcoholic fatty liver disease ( NAFLD ) like the control mice , but they did n’t , ” said lead research worker and Associate Professor Frederic Gachon of the Institute for Molecular Bioscience in arelease .

“ We also found that the liver of the obese male mice had been feminised probably due in part to the protective nature of the distaff sex hormone , oestrogen . ”

Like our reproductive organ , the liver is sexually dimorphic substance there are detectable differences in the liver of males and female . This includes major differences in their cistron profiles , with more than1,000 liver genesbeing sex - specific .

singular to see if the liver feminization seen in mice use to humans , the team test specimens and found that yes , it did . In fact , the human liver tissue paper divulge that not only was feminisation linked to liver disease , but it became more forward-looking with later - phase illness .

“ It appear that the disruption of circadian rhythms might be protecting the liver by mold the levels of hormones such as growth hormone , oestrogen and testosterone , ” Gachon said .

Combining the computer mouse and human finding , the study authors consider that the circadian clock could play a role in slowing disease progression by tweaking metabolic pathways .

" In light of these finding , we are enquire whether behavioral and hormonal interventions are potential treatments for liver disease , " Gachon concluded .

[ H / T : Gizmodo ]