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(Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. 2009;29:289.)
© 2009 American Heart Association, Inc.

Go Red for Women

Estrogen and Mechanisms of Vascular Protection

Dongqi Xing; Susan Nozell; Yiu-Fai Chen; Fadi Hage; Suzanne Oparil

From the Vascular Biology and Hypertension Program, Division of Cardiovascular Disease, Department of Medicine (D.X., Y.-F.C., F.H., S.O.), and the Department of Cell Biology (S.N.), University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Correspondence to Suzanne Oparil, MD, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1034 Zeigler Research Building, 703 19th Street South, Birmingham, AL 35294-0007. E-mail soparil{at}uab.edu

Estrogen has antiinflammatory and vasoprotective effects when administered to young women or experimental animals that appear to be converted to proinflammatory and vasotoxic effects in older subjects, particularly those that have been hormone free for long periods. Clinical studies have raised many important questions about the vascular effects of estrogen that cannot easily be answered in human subjects. Here we review cellular/molecular mechanisms by which estrogen modulates injury-induced inflammation, growth factor expression, and oxidative stress in arteries and isolated vascular smooth muscle cells, with emphasis on the role of estrogen receptors and the nuclear factor-B (NFB) signaling pathway, as well as evidence that these protective mechanisms are lost in aging subjects.

Key Words: estrogen • smooth muscle cells • inflammation • NFB • vascular injury • oxidative stress

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Nigel Mackman and Susan Smyth
Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 2009 29: 277-278. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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