Heart failure & cardiomyopathies
Sex-specific cardiac ageing and sympathetic compensation: a translational study
Main finding · Age-related LV volume decline (LVEDVI)Result — go to the resultr −0.272Authors' conclusion
Age-related cardiac changes affect both women and men in similar ways, but are more pronounced in women-likely reflecting a greater decline in sex hormones.
Study context
- Population
- UK Biobank participants aged 45–85 years with CMR; plus mice aged 4–6 or 18–20 months and a 3D human microtissue (hMT) model52.2% women
- Participants
- 39,616 participants
- Exposure
- Women vs men
- Outcome
- Age-related LV morphometry (LV volumes) by CMR
Methodological detailsobservational, translational (mouse model and 3D human microtissue model), Mouse model of hormone withdrawal and ageing: 118 mice, 50% females
- Observational
- Translational (mouse model and 3D human microtissue model)
- Mouse model of hormone withdrawal and ageing: 118 mice, 50% females
Main finding
Age-related LV volume decline (LVEDVI)
r
−0.272
P = 0.037
As reported in the abstract
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
R
| Outcome | Women | Men | R | P value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compensatory increase in baseline HRMore pronounced in women | 0.121 | P < 0.001 | ||
| Age-related decline in cardiac indicesLesser decline in women | −0.169 | −0.211 | P = 0.045 | |
| Mice: HR, young vs old femalesSignificant only in female mice | P = 0.012 | |||
| Mice: cardiac sympathetic activity, young vs old femalesSignificant only in female mice | P = 0.008 |
- Mice: HR, young vs old females: Young females 377 ± 45 bpm
- Mice: HR, young vs old females: Old females 438 ± 40 bpm
- Mice: cardiac sympathetic activity, young vs old females: Young females 0.206 ± 0.02 % injected dose per mL
- Mice: cardiac sympathetic activity, young vs old females: Old females 0.148 ± 0.03 % injected dose per mL
Mice: collagen I production, young vs old
- Collagen I, young vs old (first comparison)
- 0.743 ± 0.364 vs 1.611 ± 0.372 AU, P = .002
- Collagen I, young vs old males
- 1.925 ± 0.27 vs 1.838 ± 0.329 AU, P = .0972
- LVEDVI, young vs old females
- P < 0.001
- Age-related reductions in left ventricular (LV) volumes and increased collagen I significant only in females
Mice: sex hormone withdrawal
- Withdrawal of sex hormones eliminated age-related changes in LV volumes
3D hMT model
- Female and male sex hormones exerted anti-fibrotic and anti-apoptotic effects on cardiomyocytes and fibroblasts
Sex hormones over lifespan
- Female sex hormone production declined with age in both species; testosterone essentially unchanged
Original publication
Sex-specific cardiac ageing and sympathetic compensation: a translational study. Eur Heart J. Published 10 December 2025. doi:10.
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