Although many aspects of cardiovascular disease are similar between women and men, it is becoming increasingly obvious that
there are significant differences as well. Premenopausal women ususally have a lower risk of cardiovascular diseases than
age-matched men and postmenopausal women. However, the “female advantage” disappears once women are affilicted with diabetes
mellitus. Heart diseases are twice as common in diabetic men and five times as common in diabetic women. It is believed that
differences in sex hormones and intrinsic myocardial and endothelial functions between men and women may be responsible for
this female “advantage” and “disadvantage” in normal and diabetic conditions. Most experimental and clinical studies on diabetes
only included male subjects and failed to address this important gender difference in diabetic heart complications. Although
female hearts may be better tolerated to stress (such as ischemia) insults than their male counterparts, female sex hormone
such as estrogen may interact with certain risk factors under diabetes which may compromise the overall cardiac function.
The benefit versus risk of estrogen replacement therapy on cardiac function and overall cardiovascular health in diabetes
remains controversial. This review will focus on gender-related difference in diabetic heart complication—diabetic cardiomyopathy—and
if gender differences in intrinsic myocardial contraction, polyol pathway metabolism, and advanced glycation endproduct formation
and other neuroendocrinal regulatory mechanisms to the heart may contribute to disparity in diabetic cardiomyopathy between
men and women.
Key Words Diabetes - diabetic cardiomyopathy - cardiac - gender