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Sex Differences in Cardiac Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury

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Sex Differences in Heart Disease

Part of the book series: Advances in Biochemistry in Health and Disease ((ABHD,volume 21))

Abstract

It is now well known that differences in the structure and function of the heart exist between male and female hearts. Several lines of experimental and clinical investigations have reported that there are sex differences in the tolerance to myocardial ischemia, whereby adult male hearts are more susceptible to ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury as compared to pre-menopausal female hearts. Experimental studies have also shown that adult female hearts have increased resistance and male hearts are more susceptible to I/R in animals exposed to perinatal hypoxia. Although there is now a large body of evidence which indicates that estrogen is involved in the sex differences with respect to cardiac tolerance to ischemia, the exact mechanisms involved in the cardiac response to ischemia or hypoxia are not fully understood. Accordingly, this chapter is intended to describe some of the known molecular and cellular mechanisms that contribute to sex differences in the susceptibility to I/R injury. With such a new basic information and advancements in the understanding of the mechanisms responsible for sex differences in cardiac sensitivity to ischemic injury, it is hoped that some specific therapeutic strategies will be developed for post-menopausal females for better quality of life, and lower mortality.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by grant of the Czech Science Foundation 18-03207S and by an institutional grant MH CZ-DRO (Nemocnice Na Homolce-NNH, 00023884), IG150501.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Physiology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Videnska 1083, 14220, Prague 4, Czech Republic

    Bohuslav Ostadal & Jan Neckar

  2. Cardiovascular Center, Department of Cardiology, Na Homolce Hospital, Prague, Czech Republic

    Petr Ostadal

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  1. Bohuslav Ostadal
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Correspondence to Bohuslav Ostadal .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Physiology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic

    Bohuslav Ostadal

  2. St. Boniface Hospital Albrechtsen Research Centre, Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, Winnipeg, MB, Canada

    Naranjan S. Dhalla

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Ostadal, B., Ostadal, P., Neckar, J. (2020). Sex Differences in Cardiac Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury. In: Ostadal, B., Dhalla, N.S. (eds) Sex Differences in Heart Disease. Advances in Biochemistry in Health and Disease, vol 21. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58677-5_2

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