Sex differences in neuroinflammation and neuroprotection in ischemic stroke.

Sex differences in neuroinflammation and neuroprotection in ischemic stroke. J Neurosci Res. 2017 Jan 2;95(1-2):462-471 Authors: Spychala MS, Honarpisheh P, McCullough LD Abstract Stroke is not only a leading cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide it also disproportionally affects women. There are currently over 500,000 more women stroke survivors in the US than men, and elderly women bear the brunt of stroke-related disability. Stroke has dropped to the fifth leading cause of death in men, but remains the third in women. This review discusses sex differences in common stroke risk factors, the efficacy of stroke prevention therapies, acute treatment responses, and post-stroke recovery in clinical populations. Women have an increased lifetime risk of stroke compared to men, largely due to a steep increase in stroke incidence in older postmenopausal women, yet most basic science studies continue to only evaluate young male animals. Women also have an increased lifetime prevalence of many common stroke risk factors, including hypertension and atrial fibrillation, as well as abdominal obesity and metabolic syndrome. None of these age-related risk factors have been well modeled in the laboratory. Evidence from the bench has implicated genetic and epigenetic factors, differential activation of cell-death programs, cell-cell signaling pathways, and systemic immune responses as contributors to sex differences in ischemic stroke. The most...
Source: Cell Research - Category: Cytology Authors: Tags: J Neurosci Res Source Type: research