title: Pilot study of sex differences in chemokine/cytokine markers of atherosclerosis in humans.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Atherogenic processes increase in women after menopause, when the risk of cardiovascular adverse events approaches that observed in age-matched men. In experimental animals, ovariectomy increases the platelet content of mitogenic cytokines, such as platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), which when released into the blood or site of vascular injury, contribute to atherogenic processes.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Experiments were designed to assess the sex distribution of inflammatorychemokines/cytokines, which may be released from platelets in the serum of middle-aged women and men in whom the extent of atherosclerotic coronary disease was defined by coronary arterial calcification (CAC).
  
  
  METHODS
  Blood was obtained from healthy white individuals recruited from the Mayo Clinic database. CAC was assessed by 64-slice computed tomography. Plasma cholesterol, lipids, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein were analyzed by the Mayo Clinic Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology. Serum cytokines were determined using cytokine arrays. Cytokine expression was measured using dot blot analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 16 individuals (11 women, 5 men) who agreed to participate in the study, 1 woman was premenopausal, 1 was taking oral contraceptives, and 1 was receiving menopausal hormone therapy. One woman had an active infection and was eliminated from the study. CAC was detected in only 2 of the 11 women (scores of 46 and 56 Agatston units [AU]) but in 3 of the 5 men (scores of 3, 123, and 609 AU). Correcting for all other risk factors, expression of the chemokine RANTES (regulated on activation, normal, T-cell expressed and secreted; CCL5 [CC chemokine ligand 5]) was 100.98% greater in women than in men, and PDGF-BB was 55.30% greater in women than in men.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This small pilot study found that the circulating chemokines/cytokines RANTES and PDGF-BB showed sex-disparate distribution between the women and men studied, and did not appear related to the degree of CAC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Physiology, and Biomedical Engineering, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN 55905, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Leung
authors.forename: Muthuvel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jayachandran
authors.forename: June
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kendall-Thomas
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Behrenbeck
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Araoz
authors.forename: Virginia M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Miller
mesh_terms: D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000097:blood*; D001792:Blood Platelets / Q000378:metabolism*; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis; D018925:Chemokines / Q000097:blood; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000032:analysis; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012307:Risk Factors; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012737:Sex Factors
chemical_list: D018925:Chemokines; D016207:Cytokines; D008055:Lipids; D002097:C-Reactive Protein; D002784:Cholesterol