Barros Paula R, Costa Tiago J, Akamine Eliana H, Tostes Rita C
Department of Pharmacology, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil.
Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Biomedical Science, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Front Aging. 2021 Sep 8;2:727604. doi: 10.3389/fragi.2021.727604. eCollection 2021.
Increasing scientific interest has been directed to sex as a biological and decisive factor on several diseases. Several different mechanisms orchestrate vascular function, as well as vascular dysfunction in cardiovascular and metabolic diseases in males and females. Certain vascular sex differences are present throughout life, while others are more evident before the menopause, suggesting two important and correlated drivers: genetic and hormonal factors. With the increasing life expectancy and aging population, studies on aging-related diseases and aging-related physiological changes have steeply grown and, with them, the use of aging animal models. Mouse and rat models of aging, the most studied laboratory animals in aging research, exhibit sex differences in many systems and physiological functions, as well as sex differences in the aging process and aging-associated cardiovascular changes. In the present review, we introduce the most common aging and senescence-accelerated animal models and emphasize that sex is a biological variable that should be considered in aging studies. Sex differences in the cardiovascular system, with a focus on sex differences in aging-associated vascular alterations (endothelial dysfunction, remodeling and oxidative and inflammatory processes) in these animal models are reviewed and discussed.
越来越多的科学兴趣指向了性别这一在多种疾病中具有生物学决定性作用的因素。在男性和女性的心血管及代谢疾病中，多种不同机制共同调节血管功能以及血管功能障碍。某些血管性别差异终生存在，而其他差异在绝经前更为明显，这表明存在两个重要且相关的驱动因素：遗传和激素因素。随着预期寿命的增加和人口老龄化，关于衰老相关疾病和衰老相关生理变化的研究急剧增加，与之相伴的是衰老动物模型的使用。衰老的小鼠和大鼠模型是衰老研究中研究最多的实验动物，它们在许多系统和生理功能中表现出性别差异，在衰老过程和与衰老相关的心血管变化中也存在性别差异。在本综述中，我们介绍了最常见的衰老和衰老加速动物模型，并强调性别是衰老研究中应考虑的生物学变量。本文回顾并讨论了这些动物模型中心血管系统的性别差异，重点关注与衰老相关的血管改变（内皮功能障碍、重塑以及氧化和炎症过程）中的性别差异。
