Figure 3

Sex-differences in gene expression are increased by the use of hormonal contraceptives, and decreased during menopause. Women were divided in three groups: postmenopausal, hormonal contraceptive using (HC), and non hormonal contraceptive using (NHC) women. For the 993 sex-biased transcripts identified in the comparison between males and NHC women, fold changes were computed for the difference between the three groups of women and the men. Positive fold changes are from female-biased genes, negative fold changes correspond to male-biased genes. A) Fold changes are for 80% larger in NHC women as compared to postmenopausal women. B) Fold changes in HC women are for 66% larger than those observed in NHC women, and the negative fold changes (male-biased genes) were for 88% larger in HC women.