Center for Gender Physiology, Department of Medical Pharmacology and Physiology, School of Medicine, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA.
Adv Exp Med Biol. 2018;1065:307-328. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-77932-4_20.
The requirements of metabolizing tissue are both continuous and variable; accordingly, the microvasculature serving that tissue must be similarly dynamic. Just as it is recognized that males and females of the same species have differing metabolic requirements, is it not likely that the microvasculature serving these tissues will differ by sex? This section focusing on the constituents of the microcirculation identifies what is known presently about the role sex plays in matching metabolic demand with microvascular function and areas requiring additional study. Many of the identified sex differences are subtle and easily ignored. In the aggregate, though, they can profoundly alter phenotype, especially under stressful conditions including pregnancy, exercise, and disease states ranging from diabetes to heart failure. Although the features presently identified to "have sex" range from differences in growth, morphology, protein expression, and intracellular signaling, males and females alike achieve homeostasis, likely by different means. Studies of microvascular sexual dimorphism are also identifying age as an independent but interacting factor requiring additional attention. Overall, attempting to ignore either sex and/or age is inappropriate and will prevent the design and implementation of appropriate interventions to present, ameliorate, or correct microvascular dysfunction.
代谢组织的需求是连续和变化的；因此，为该组织提供服务的微血管必须具有类似的动态性。正如人们认识到同一物种的男性和女性具有不同的代谢需求一样，为这些组织提供服务的微血管是否可能因性别而异？本节重点介绍微循环的组成部分，确定目前已知的性别在将代谢需求与微血管功能相匹配以及需要进一步研究的领域中所起的作用。许多已确定的性别差异很细微，容易被忽视。但是，总的来说，它们会深刻地改变表型，尤其是在压力条件下，包括怀孕、运动和从糖尿病到心力衰竭等疾病状态。尽管目前确定的具有“性别”的特征从生长、形态、蛋白质表达和细胞内信号转导等方面存在差异，但男性和女性都能达到体内平衡，可能通过不同的方式。对微血管性别二态性的研究也确定了年龄是一个独立但相互作用的因素，需要进一步关注。总的来说，试图忽略性别和/或年龄是不恰当的，这将阻止设计和实施适当的干预措施来改善或纠正微血管功能障碍。
