title: Sex differences in vascular endothelial function and health in humans: impacts of exercise.
abstract: What is the topic of this review? This brief review discusses potential sex differences in arterial function across the age span, with special emphasis on the effects of oestrogen and testosterone on the vascular endothelium. What advances does it highlight? We discuss the relationship between the impacts of sex hormones on arterial function and health in the context of epidemiological evidence pertaining to the menopause and ageing. Studies performed in humans are emphasized, alongside insights from animal studies. Findings suggest that the combination of exercise and hormone administration should be potentially synergistic or additive in humans. This brief review presents historical evidence for the purported impacts of male and female sex hormones on the vasculature in humans, including effects on macro- and microvascular function and health. Impacts of ageing on hormonal changes and arterial function are considered in the context of the menopause. Physiological data are presented alongside clinical outcomes from large trials, in an attempt to rationalize disparate findings along the bench-to-bedside continuum. Finally, the theoretical likelihood that exercise and hormone treatment may induce synergistic and/or additive vascular adaptations is developed in the context of recent laboratory studies that have compared male and female responses to training. Differences between men and women in terms of the impact of age and cardiorespiratory fitness on endothelial function are addressed. Ultimately, this review highlights the paucity of high-quality and compelling evidence regarding the fundamental impact, in humans, of sex differences on arterial function and the moderating impacts of exercise on arterial function, adaptation and health at different ages in either sex.
authors.affiliation: School of Sport Science, Exercise and Health, The University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia.|Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK.
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Green
authors.affiliation: Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK.
authors.forename: Nicola D
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Hopkins
authors.affiliation: Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK.
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK.|Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, Department of Physiology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Dick H J
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Thijssen
authors.affiliation: Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK.|Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, Department of Physiology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Thijs M H
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Eijsvogels
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine and Pharmacology, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Australia.|Department of Endocrinology and Diabetes, Fiona Stanley and Fremantle Hospitals, Perth, Australia.
authors.forename: Bu B
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Yeap
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000502:physiology; D001158:Arteries / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D012727:Sex Characteristics
chemical_list: D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones