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The Influence of Sex on Cardiac Physiology and Cardiovascular Diseases

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Abstract

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death world-wide. Most of treatment strategies were based on studies conducted on male patients. Studies have shown that significant differences exist between the two sexes in the development of CVD. There are certain differences between men and women in the structure and physiological functions of the heart such as left ventricular mass index, resting heart rate, and contractile function. Accordingly, the pathological features of the heart such as the extend of hypertrophy, fibrosis, and remodeling are also different. In addition, different genders also affect clinical symptoms, responses to treatment and prognosis in the development of CVD. Therefore, it is important to take these differences into consideration when design treatment options for men and women.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC, No. 91849122, No. 81870194), Jiangsu Province Key Scientific and Technological Project (BE2016669), Suzhou Science and Technology Project (SS201665), Jiangsu Province Peak of Talent in Six Industries (BU24600117), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.U1601227 to X.Y.Y), the Science and Technology Programs of Guangdong Province (No. 2015B020225006 to X.Y.Y).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Cardiovascular Science and Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China

    Yu Zhang & Yangxin Li

  2. Department of Cardiology, the First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, 130041, Jilin, People’s Republic of China

    Bin Liu

  3. The First Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi, 563000, Guizhou, People’s Republic of China

    Ranzun Zhao

  4. Department of Cardiology, Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, 410013, Hunan, People’s Republic of China

    Saidan Zhang

  5. Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 510080, Guangdong, People’s Republic of China

    Xi-yong Yu

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  1. Yu Zhang
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  4. Saidan Zhang
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Correspondence to Yangxin Li.

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Statement of the Clinical Relevance

Significant differences exist between the two sexes in the development of CVD. Further understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying these differences will lead to the development of better therapies for treating female patients with heart diseases.

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Associate Editor Yihua Bei oversaw the review of this article

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Zhang, Y., Liu, B., Zhao, R. et al. The Influence of Sex on Cardiac Physiology and Cardiovascular Diseases. J. of Cardiovasc. Trans. Res. 13, 3–13 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12265-019-09898-x

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