Gender-Related Differences in Atherosclerosis

Pankaj Mathur, Bohuslav Ostadal, Francesco Romeo, Jawahar L. Mehta

Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality globally. Considerable research has been done over the last several decades to understand the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis. It is widely believed that estrogen is responsible for the protection of women from CVD in the premenopausal age group. However, hormone replacement therapy has failed to decrease CVD events in clinical studies which points to the complexity of the relationship between vascular biology and estrogen hormones. Interestingly, preponderance of vascular and connective tissue disorders in women also points to an inherent role of hormones and tissue factors in maintenance of vascular endothelial function. The differential effect of GPER, lipoprotein A, TLRs, leucocyte-platelet aggregate markers in men and women also suggests inherent gender-related differences in the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis. A better understanding of the pathophysiology is likely to open ways to improve evidence-based treatment of CVD in women.