A new study published in Science Advances has shown that male and female hearts respond differently to the stress hormone noradrenaline.
Key Findings
- Male and female hearts respond differently to the stress hormone noradrenaline.
- Some areas of the female heart return to normal more quickly than the male heart after exposure to noradrenaline.
- This may have implications for human heart disorders like arrhythmias and heart failure and how different sexes respond to medications.
Recommendations
- More research is needed to understand how the sexes may respond differently to heart disorders and how medications may work differently in men and women.
- Cardiologists should consider the sex of their patients when making treatment decisions.
- Women should be aware of the symptoms of heart disease and seek medical attention if they experience any of them.
Researchers at the University of California Davis School of Medicine used a new type of fluorescence imaging system that allows them to use light to see how a mouse heart responds to hormones and neurotransmitters in real time.
The mice were exposed to noradrenaline, also known as norepinephrine. Noradrenaline is both a neurotransmitter and hormone associated with the body’s “fight or flight” response.
The results reveal that male and female mouse hearts respond uniformly at first after exposure to noradrenaline, however, some areas of the female heart return to normal more quickly than the male heart, which produces differences in the heart’s electrical activity.
This may have implications for human heart disorders like arrhythmias and heart failure and how different sexes respond to medications.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States, but cardiology research has largely been performed on male subjects.
This study is important because it helps understand how the sexes may respond differently to heart disorders and how medications may work differently in men and women.