Nature: Researchers Link Faster Wound Healing to Female Sex Hormones

In the experiment, biologists tracked stem cells in living mice over a period of five months. The cells pass through an intermediate stage before reaching maturity. In females, this process is coordinated: daughter cells make the same decisions simultaneously. They either continue to proliferate or begin to specialize. In males, each cell operates at its own pace, without any coordination.

These differences in cellular behavior depend on hormonal levels. Testosterone accelerates cell maturation and prompts cells to leave the stem cell layer. Estrogens stimulate cell division and promote the synchronized behavior described above. When the ovaries were removed from female mice, this synchronization disappeared but returned after estradiol was administered. The same effect was confirmed in human skin grown in the laboratory.

This newly identified mechanism helps explain why skin injuries heal faster in females, particularly during the first few days. Their stem cells become active earlier and work in a coordinated manner. As healing progresses, the advantage diminishes, but the initial boost remains in favor of the female body. Clinicians have long observed differences in tissue regeneration rates between males and females, but a biological explanation for faster healing has only now emerged.

The findings could change approaches to treating severe burns and chronic wounds associated with diabetes, which affect millions of people worldwide. Taking hormonal status into account when developing treatments could also help prevent cancers of the epidermis. Further research will reveal exactly how biological sex influences the development of malignant skin tumors.