Women less likely to be routed to comprehensive stroke centers for large vessel acute ischemic stroke, according to UTHealth Houston research

Despite having worse stroke symptoms and living within comparable distances to comprehensive stroke centers, women with large vessel occlusion acute ischemic stroke are less likely to be routed to the centers compared to men, according to a new study from UTHealth Houston.

Sex Differences in Fat Storage during Military Training Help Women Preserve Lean Mass

Article title: Sex differences in body composition and serum metabolome responses to sustained, physical training suggest enhanced fat oxidation in women compared with men Authors: Meaghan E. Beckner, Lauren Thompson, Patrick N. Radcliffe, Rebecca Cherian, Marques Wilson, Nicholas Barringer, Lee…

Gene Expression in Kidneys Is Regulated by the Microbiome in Sex- and Tissue-specific Ways

Article title: Commensal microbiota regulate renal gene expression in a sex-specific manner Authors: Brittni N. Moore and Jennifer L. Pluznick From the authors: “This report demonstrates that renal gene expression is modulated by the microbiome in a sex- and tissue-specific…

Women Have Less Age-related Decrease of Gray Matter in Brain than Men

Article title: Differential reduction of gray matter volume with age in 35 cortical areas in men (more) and women (less) Authors: Peka Christova and Apostolos P. Georgopoulos From the authors: “This study showed an overall decrease of cortical gray matter…

Researchers Explore Sex Differences in Cardiovascular and Congenital Heart Diseases in People with Down Syndrome

Article title: Sex differences in cardiovascular disease and dysregulation in Down syndrome Authors: Melissa L. Bates, Anastasiia Vasileva, Laura D.M. Flores, Yana Pryakhina, Michelle Buckman, Michael H. Tomasson, Lara R. DeRuisseau From the authors: “Based on the results of our…

Hormone therapy could lower risk of immunotherapy-associated myocarditis in women

A new preclinical study from researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) has discovered the underlying cause of gender differences in immunotherapy-associated myocarditis after immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) treatment. Their findings point to possible treatment strategies for this side effect, which disproportionately affects female patients.

Biological Sex, Heart Disease Risk Factors Can Influence Relationship between Cardiorespiratory Fitness Level and Brain Blood Flow

Article title: Influence of sex and presence of cardiovascular risk factors on relations between cardiorespiratory fitness and cerebrovascular hemodynamics Authors: Wesley K. Lefferts, Cynthia M. Weiner, Sara E. Mascone, Jacqueline A. Augustine, Kevin S. Heffernan, Elizabeth C. Lefferts From the…

McCullough honored with 2022 American Heart Association Basic Research Prize

In acknowledgment of her research advancing the field of cardiovascular science, UTHealth Houston’s Louise McCullough, MD, PhD, has been honored with the 2022 American Heart Association Basic Research Prize.

Rare Human Gene Variant in ADHD, Autism Exposes Fundamental Sex Differences

Key differences in male and female mice brains provide new insights into how sex determines the mechanisms by which distinct synapses monitor and regulate dopamine signaling. The impact of sex differences is particularly pronounced when the mice express a human genetic variant found in boys with either ADHD or autism. Behavioral generalizations across the sexes may limit diagnosis of mental illness, especially if one sex translates alterations into outward signs such as hyperactivity and aggression vs. more internal manifestations such as learning, memory and mood, even when the same molecular pathology is at work.

Drugs Effects of Ketamine in Mice can Depend on the Sex of the Human Experimenter

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have shown that mice respond more to the antidepressant effects of the drug ketamine when administered by men and not by women. The group demonstrated that a stress response detected in the mouse’s brain from handling by a man is essential for ketamine to work.

Heart of Aging Female Mice Produce More Collagen than Males, Develops More Scarring

Article title: Sex-specific phenotypes in the aging mouse heart and consequences for chronic fibrosis Authors: Aude Angelini, Jesus Ortiz-Urbina, JoAnn Trial, Anilkumar K. Reddy, Anna Malovannaya, Antrix Jain, Mark L. Entman, George E. Taffet, Katarzyna A. Cieslik From the authors:…

WVU researcher says gene discovery may lead to new tests, treatments for Alzheimer’s in women

Women make up two-thirds of Americans who have Alzheimer’s disease, yet scientists have yet to determine what makes them so susceptible to the condition. Bernard Schreurs, a researcher with the West Virginia University School of Medicine and Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, directs the West Virginia Alzheimer’s…

Reversal of Heart Enlargement Differs in the Sexes; Doesn’t Use Universal Signaling Pathways

Article title: Regression from pathological hypertrophy in mice is sexually dimorphic and stimulus-specific Authors: Deanna L. Muehleman, Claudia Crocini, Alison R. Swearingen, Christopher D. Ozeroff, Leslie A. Leinwand From the authors: “This work highlights that the reversal of pathological hypertrophy…

When it Comes to Preventing Alzheimer’s, Women and Men are Not Created Equal

A study is the first to examine if sex significantly affects cognitive outcomes in people who follow individually-tailored, multi-domain clinical interventions. The study also determined whether change in risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD), along with blood markers of AD risk, also were affected by sex. Results showed that while care in an Alzheimer’s Prevention Clinic setting is equally effective at improving cognitive function in both women and men, the personally-tailored interventions used by the researchers led to greater improvements in women compared to men across AD and CVD disease risk scales, as well blood biomarkers of risk such as blood sugar, LDL cholesterol, and the diabetes test HbA1C. Findings are important because women are disproportionately affected by AD and population-attributable risk models suggest that managing risk factors can prevent up to one-third of dementia cases.

Women: Lower-fat Diet Key to Liver Health Following Weight-loss Surgery

Research suggests that women who have weight loss surgery need to reduce the amount of fat they eat after surgery to reap the full benefit of the procedure and protect their liver function. The study is published ahead of print in the American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism.

When seeing is believing

Being able to vividly imagine graduating college predicts grade point average and whether a student continues in a STEM or business degree program, according to a longitudinal study from Arizona State University. The study also found sex differences between how men and women visualized their post-graduation goals: Men increased the level of detail, but women remained stagnant. These findings could have implications for why women are underrepresented in STEM and business careers.

Brain Disease Research Reveals Differences Between Sexes

In APL Bioengineering, University of Maryland scientists highlight a growing body of research suggesting sex differences play roles in how patients respond to brain diseases, as well as multiple sclerosis, motor neuron disease, and other brain ailments. They are urging their colleagues to remember those differences when researching treatments and cures.

March Special Issue of The American Journal of Gastroenterology Focuses on Women’s Health in Gastroenterology and Hepatology

The March issue of The American Journal of Gastroenterology features new clinical research involving sex and gender, including effects of GI and liver conditions on pregnancy, gender disparities in diet and nutrition, Barrett’s esophagus incidence in women with scleroderma, factors influencing whether women pursue advanced endoscopy careers, endoscopy-related musculoskeletal injuries, sex hormone association with increased prevalence of certain types of cancer, and more.

MRI Finds Circadian Variations in Men’s and Women’s Renal Blood Flow

Article title: Circadian variation in renal blood flow and kidney function in healthy volunteers monitored with noninvasive magnetic resonance imaging Authors: Per Eckerbom, Peter Hansell, Eleanor Cox, Charlotte Buchanan, Jan Weis, Fredrik Palm, Susan Francis, Per Liss From the authors: “In…

Sex Hormones Contribute to Sex Differences in COVD-19

Article title: Sex steroids skew ACE2 expression in human airway: a contributing factor to sex differences in COVID-19? Authors: Rama Satyanarayana Raju Kalidhindi, Niyati A. Borkar, Nilesh Sudhakar Ambhore, Christina M. Pabelick, Y. S. Prakash, Venkatachalem Sathish From the authors:…

Sleep Apnea Does Not Raise Blood Pressure in Young Women

Article title: Sex differences in integrated neuro-cardiovascular control of blood pressure following acute intermittent hypercapnic-hypoxia Authors:Dain W. Jacob, Elizabeth P. Ott, Sarah E. Baker, Zachariah M. Scruggs, Clayton L. Ivie, Jennifer L. Harper, Camila M. Manrique-Acevedo, Jaqueline K. Limberg From…

MicroRNA Variation in Circulation Could Explain Sex Differences in Heart Health

Article title: Sex-specific alterations in blood-borne factors in physically inactive individuals are detrimental to endothelial cell functions Authors: Ryan M. Sapp, Rian Q. Landers-Ramos, Daniel D. Shill, Catherine B. Springer, James M. Hagberg From the authors: “Our data suggest alterations in…

Genetic differences in fat shape men and women’s health risks

New findings about body fat help explain the differing health risks men and women face – and set the stage for better, more targeted treatments.

SARS-CoV-2 is More Severe in Men, Emerging Data Suggests in New Review by Mount Sinai Researchers

Senior Author:  Ash Tewari, MBBS, MCh, Chair of the Department of Urology at the Mount Sinai Health System, Professor, Urology, Oncological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai First Author: Dimple Chakravarty, PhD, Assistant Professor, Urology, Icahn School of Medicine…

Estrogen’s Regulation of ACE2 Expression in Lungs Could Explain COVID-19 Sex Differences

Article title: Estrogen regulates the expression of SARS-CoV-2 receptor ACE2 in differentiated airway epithelial cells Authors: Kimberly E. Stelzig, Fabrizio Canepa-Escaro, Marta Schiliro, Sergejs Berdnikovs, Y. S. Prakash, Sergio E. Chiarella From the authors: “Given the striking sexual dimorphism in the COVID-19…

Kidney Replacement Therapy Rates Have Remained Higher in Men Vs. Women for Decades

Highlights
• Rates for all types of kidney replacement therapy in European countries were consistently higher in men than women from 1965 to 2015.
• Male-to-female ratios increased with age, showing consistency over decades and for individual countries, despite changes in the causes of kidney disease.
• The male-to-female ratio was higher for kidney transplantation in diabetic patients.

New Diagnostic Criteria May Enable Earlier Detection of Cognitive Impairment in Women

Study finds when verbal memory test cut-offs were tailored to patient sex, more female patients and fewer male patients were considered to have amnesic mild cognitive impairment. This could change the way aMCI diagnoses are determined and make it easier to catch the condition in its early stages.

Same Receptor, Different Effect: Research Uncovers New Sex-specific Factor in CV Disease

A common receptor may serve differentiated roles related to aging-associated cardiovascular disease in males and females. Jennifer DuPont, PhD, will present the findings of this first-of-its-kind study today at the American Physiological Society Aldosterone and ENaC Conference in Estes Park, Colo.