The study looked at how male and female rats respond differently to liver injury caused by lack of blood flow and then restoration of blood flow. Female rats had higher levels of a molecule called nitric oxide, which helped protect their livers from damage compared to male rats. Female rats also had lower levels of liver damage markers and survived longer than male rats. Male rats treated with a hormone called 17-β-estradiol showed similar benefits to female rats in terms of nitric oxide levels and liver protection. This suggests that nitric oxide plays a key role in gender differences in liver injury.