Sex differences in mechanisms of cardiac excitation–contraction coupling
The incidence and expression of cardiovascular diseases differs between the sexes. This is not surprising, as cardiac physiology differs between men and women. Clinical and basic science investigations have shown important sex differences in cardiac structure and function. The pervasiveness of sex d...
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| Format: | Online |
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Springer-Verlag
2013
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| Online Access: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3651827/ |
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pubmed-36518272013-05-13 Sex differences in mechanisms of cardiac excitation–contraction coupling Parks, Randi J. Howlett, Susan E. Invited Review The incidence and expression of cardiovascular diseases differs between the sexes. This is not surprising, as cardiac physiology differs between men and women. Clinical and basic science investigations have shown important sex differences in cardiac structure and function. The pervasiveness of sex differences suggests that such differences must be fundamental, likely operating at a cellular level. Indeed, studies have shown that isolated ventricular myocytes from female animals have smaller and slower contractions and underlying calcium transients compared to males. Recent evidence suggests that this arises from sex differences in components of the cardiac excitation–contraction coupling pathway, the sequence of events linking myocyte depolarization to calcium release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum and subsequent contraction. The concept that sex hormones may regulate intracellular calcium at the level of the cardiomyocyte is important, as levels of these hormones decline in both men and women as the incidence of cardiovascular disease rises. This review focuses on the impact of sex on cardiac contraction, in particular at the cellular level, and highlights specific components of the excitation–contraction coupling pathway that differ between the sexes. Understanding sex hormone regulation of calcium homeostasis in the heart may reveal new avenues for therapeutic strategies to treat cardiac dysfunction and cardiovascular diseases. Springer-Verlag 2013-02-17 2013-05 /pmc/articles/PMC3651827/ /pubmed/23417603 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00424-013-1233-0 Text en © The Author(s) 2013 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits any use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the source are credited. |
| repository_type |
Open Access Journal |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
US National Center for Biotechnology Information |
| building |
NCBI PubMed |
| collection |
Online Access |
| language |
English |
| format |
Online |
| author |
Parks, Randi J. Howlett, Susan E. |
| spellingShingle |
Parks, Randi J. Howlett, Susan E. Sex differences in mechanisms of cardiac excitation–contraction coupling |
| author_facet |
Parks, Randi J. Howlett, Susan E. |
| author_sort |
Parks, Randi J. |
| title |
Sex differences in mechanisms of cardiac excitation–contraction coupling |
| title_short |
Sex differences in mechanisms of cardiac excitation–contraction coupling |
| title_full |
Sex differences in mechanisms of cardiac excitation–contraction coupling |
| title_fullStr |
Sex differences in mechanisms of cardiac excitation–contraction coupling |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Sex differences in mechanisms of cardiac excitation–contraction coupling |
| title_sort |
sex differences in mechanisms of cardiac excitation–contraction coupling |
| description |
The incidence and expression of cardiovascular diseases differs between the sexes. This is not surprising, as cardiac physiology differs between men and women. Clinical and basic science investigations have shown important sex differences in cardiac structure and function. The pervasiveness of sex differences suggests that such differences must be fundamental, likely operating at a cellular level. Indeed, studies have shown that isolated ventricular myocytes from female animals have smaller and slower contractions and underlying calcium transients compared to males. Recent evidence suggests that this arises from sex differences in components of the cardiac excitation–contraction coupling pathway, the sequence of events linking myocyte depolarization to calcium release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum and subsequent contraction. The concept that sex hormones may regulate intracellular calcium at the level of the cardiomyocyte is important, as levels of these hormones decline in both men and women as the incidence of cardiovascular disease rises. This review focuses on the impact of sex on cardiac contraction, in particular at the cellular level, and highlights specific components of the excitation–contraction coupling pathway that differ between the sexes. Understanding sex hormone regulation of calcium homeostasis in the heart may reveal new avenues for therapeutic strategies to treat cardiac dysfunction and cardiovascular diseases. |
| publisher |
Springer-Verlag |
| publishDate |
2013 |
| url |
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3651827/ |
| _version_ |
1611977166220689408 |