Vascular Biology Group, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Vascular Biology Research Centre, Institute of Molecular and Clinical Sciences, St George's University of London, London, UK.
Channels (Austin). 2023 Dec;17(1):2217637. doi: 10.1080/19336950.2023.2217637.
Sex hormones and the reproductive cycle (estrus in rodents and menstrual in humans) have a known impact on arterial function. In spite of this, sex hormones and the estrus/menstrual cycle are often neglected experimental factors in vascular basic preclinical scientific research. Recent research by our own laboratory indicates that cyclical changes in serum concentrations of sex -hormones across the rat estrus cycle, primary estradiol, have significant consequences for the subcellular trafficking and function of K. Vascular potassium channels, including K, are essential components of vascular reactivity. Our study represents a small part of a growing field of literature aimed at determining the role of sex hormones in regulating arterial ion channel function. This review covers key findings describing the current understanding of sex hormone regulation of vascular potassium channels, with a focus on K channels. Further, we highlight areas of research where the estrus cycle should be considered in future studies to determine the consequences of physiological oscillations in concentrations of sex hormones on vascular potassium channel function.
性激素和生殖周期（啮齿动物的发情期和人类的月经周期）对动脉功能有已知的影响。尽管如此，性激素和发情/月经周期在血管基础临床前科学研究中经常被忽视作为实验因素。我们自己实验室的最新研究表明，大鼠发情周期中血清性激素浓度的周期性变化，主要是雌二醇，对钾通道的亚细胞运输和功能有重要影响。血管钾通道，包括 K，是血管反应性的重要组成部分。我们的研究代表了旨在确定性激素在调节动脉离子通道功能中的作用的不断增长的文献领域的一小部分。本综述涵盖了描述当前对血管钾通道的性激素调节的关键发现，重点是 K 通道。此外，我们强调了在未来研究中应该考虑发情周期的研究领域，以确定性激素浓度的生理波动对血管钾通道功能的影响。
