Improving translational research in sex-specific effects of comorbidities and risk factors in ischaemic heart disease and cardioprotection: position paper and recommendations of the ESC Working Group on Cellular Biology of the Heart

Perrino C, Ferdinandy P, Bøtker HE, Brundel BJ, Collins P, Davidson SM, den Ruijter HM, Engel F, Gerdts E, Girao H, Gyöngyösi M, Hausenloy DJ, Lecour S, Madonna R, Marber M, Murphy E, Pesce M, Regitz-Zagrosek V, Sluijter JP, Steffens S, Gollmann-Tepeköylü C, Van Laake LW, Van Linthout S, Schulz R, Ytrehus K (2021)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2021

Journal

Book Volume: 117

Pages Range: 367-385

Journal Issue: 2

DOI: 10.1093/cvr/cvaa155

Abstract

Ischaemic heart disease (IHD) is a complex disorder and a leading cause of death and morbidity in both men and women. Sex, however, affects several aspects of IHD, including pathophysiology, incidence, clinical presentation, diagnosis as well as treatment and outcome. Several diseases or risk factors frequently associated with IHD can modify cellular signalling cascades, thus affecting ischaemia/reperfusion injury as well as responses to cardioprotective interventions. Importantly, the prevalence and impact of risk factors and several comorbidities differ between males and females, and their effects on IHD development and prognosis might differ according to sex. The cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying these differences are still poorly understood, and their identification might have important translational implications in the prediction or prevention of risk of IHD in men and women. Despite this, most experimental studies on IHD are still undertaken in animal models in the absence of risk factors and comorbidities, and assessment of potential sex-specific differences are largely missing. This ESC WG Position Paper will discuss: (i) the importance of sex as a biological variable in cardiovascular research, (ii) major biological mechanisms underlying sex-related differences relevant to IHD risk factors and comorbidities, (iii) prospects and pitfalls of preclinical models to investigate these associations, and finally (iv) will provide recommendations to guide future research. Although gender differences also affect IHD risk in the clinical setting, they will not be discussed in detail here.

Authors with CRIS profile

Involved external institutions

Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II Italy (IT) Semmelweis University / Semmelweis Egyetem Hungary (HU) Aarhus University Hospital / Aarhus Universitetshospital Denmark (DK) Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU) / University Amsterdam Netherlands (NL) Imperial College London / The Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine United Kingdom (GB) University College London (UCL) United Kingdom (GB) University Medical Centre Utrecht (UMC Utrecht) Netherlands (NL) University of Bergen / Universitetet i Bergen Norway (NO) Universidade de Coimbra Portugal (PT) Medizinische Universität Wien Austria (AT) National University of Singapore (NUS) Singapore (SG) University of Cape Town (UCT) South Africa (ZA) University of Pisa / Università di Pisa (UniPi) Italy (IT) Guy's and St Thomas' (NHS Foundation Trust) United Kingdom (GB) National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) United States (USA) (US) Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen Germany (DE) Universitetet i Tromsø / The Arctic University of Norway (UiT) Norway (NO) Centro Cardiologico Monzino (IRCCS) Italy (IT) Deutsches Zentrum für Herz-Kreislauf-Forschung (DZHK e.V.) Germany (DE) Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) Germany (DE) Medizinische Universität Innsbruck Austria (AT) Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Perrino, C., Ferdinandy, P., Bøtker, H.E., Brundel, B.J., Collins, P., Davidson, S.M.,... Ytrehus, K. (2021). Improving translational research in sex-specific effects of comorbidities and risk factors in ischaemic heart disease and cardioprotection: position paper and recommendations of the ESC Working Group on Cellular Biology of the Heart. Cardiovascular Research, 117(2), 367-385. https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cvr/cvaa155

MLA:

Perrino, Cinzia, et al. "Improving translational research in sex-specific effects of comorbidities and risk factors in ischaemic heart disease and cardioprotection: position paper and recommendations of the ESC Working Group on Cellular Biology of the Heart." Cardiovascular Research 117.2 (2021): 367-385.

BibTeX: Download