BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE We previously reported the infarct volumes in female spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) to be significantly smaller than those in male SHR. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether estrogen is responsible for the sex difference in ischemic vulnerability in SHR. METHODS In experiment 1, 1 week (short-term) or 4 weeks (long-term) after the ovariectomy ...

Hormone replacement therapy may increase the quality of life of postmenopausal women. Any regimen need to offer long-term endometrial safety. It is a standard to consider the co-administration of a sequential progestogen when estrogen replacement should be initiated in non-hysterectomized women. It is almost impossible to decide which combination of an estrogen and a progestogen seems to be opt...

It has been shown that the incidence of atherosclerotic disease such as coronary heart disease and stroke is lower in younger women than in men of the same age but increases after menopause, implying the athero-protective action of endogenous estrogen. In addition, observational studies have suggested the extensive efficacy of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in postmenopausal women. The resul...

Bone loss with aging and menopause may be linked to vascular endothelial dysfunction. The purpose of the study was to determine whether putative modifications in endothelium-dependent vasodilation of the principal nutrient artery (PNA) of the femur are associated with changes in trabecular bone volume (BV/TV) with altered estrogen status in young (6 mon) and old (24 mon) female Fischer-344 rats...

Post-menopausal women have an increased risk of developing a number of degenerative pathological conditions, linked by the common theme of excessive inflammation. Systemic estrogen replacement (in the form of hormone replacement therapy) is able to accelerate healing of acute cutaneous wounds in elderly females, linked to its potent antiinflammatory activity. However, in contrast to many other ...

The vascular consequences of estrogen treatment may be driven by its initiation timing. We tested the hypothesis that the duration of ovarian hormone deprivation before estrogen reintroduction affects the role of estrogen as mediator of endothelial function and vascular relaxation in nondiseased vessels. Rats were ovariectomized and implanted with 17beta-estradiol (E(2)) or oil capsules 1, 4, a...

Estrogen stimulates the renin-angiotensin system by augmenting both tissue and circulating levels of angiotensinogen and renin. We show, however, that angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) activity in the circulation and in tissues is reduced in two animal models of postmenopausal chronic hormone replacement. We observed a reduction of ACE activity in association with a significant increase in pl...

The vascular consequences of estrogen treatment may be driven by its initiation timing. We tested the hypothesis that the duration of ovarian hormone deprivation before estrogen reintroduction affects the role of estrogen as mediator of endothelial function and vascular relaxation in nondiseased vessels. Rats were ovariectomized and implanted with 17 -estradiol (E2) or oil capsules 1, 4, and 8 ...

OBJECTIVES This study was designed to examine the effects of estrogen replacement on infarct size, ventricular remodeling, and mortality after myocardial infarction (MI) in mice. BACKGROUND Observational and clinical studies suggest that the cardiovascular effects of hormone replacement therapy can differ depending on the patient population studied. No prospective studies have examined the ef...