title: Human cells involved in atherosclerosis have a sex.
abstract: The influence of sex has been largely described in cardiovascular diseases. Atherosclerosis is a complex process that involves many cell types such as vessel cells, immune cells and endothelial progenitor cells; however, many, if not all, studies do not report the sex of the cells. This review focuses on sex differences in human cells involved in the atherosclerotic process, emphasizing the role of sex hormones. Furthermore, we report sex differences and issues related to the processes that determine the fate of the cells such as apoptotic and autophagic mechanisms. The analysis of the data reveals that there are still many gaps in our knowledge regarding sex influences in atherosclerosis, largely for the cell types that have not been well studied, stressing the urgent need for a clear definition of experimental conditions and the inclusion of both sexes in preclinical studies.
authors.affiliation: Assessorato alle Politiche per la Persona of Basilicata Region, Potenza, Italy; Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy.
authors.forename: Flavia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Franconi
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular and Cell Sciences Research Institute, St. George's University of London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rosano
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties - Research Center on Gender and Evaluation and Promotion of Quality in Medicine (CEQUAM), Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Basili
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Montella
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy; Laboratory of Sex-Gender Medicine, National Institute of Biostructures and Biosystems, Osilo, Italy. Electronic address: icampesi@uniss.it.
authors.forename: Ilaria
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Campesi
mesh_terms: D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000473:pathology*; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000166:cytology / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012737:Sex Factors
chemical_list: D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones
keywords: Atherosclerosis; Humans; Immune cells; Sex differences; Vessel wall cells