Tipping the scales: Are females more at risk for obesity‐ and high‐fat diet‐induced hypertension and vascular dysfunction?

Abstract

Obesity is a common metabolic disorder that has become a widespread epidemic in several countries. Sex and gender disparities in the prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) have been well documented with premenopausal women having a lower incidence of CVD than age-matched men. However, women are more likely than men to suffer from obesity, which can predispose them to a greater risk of CVD. The mechanisms underlying high-fat diet (HFD)-or obesity-induced hypertension are not well defined, although immune system activation and inflammation have been implicated in several studies. Further, the sex of the subject can have a profound influence on the immune response to hypertensive stimuli. Therefore, the purpose of this review is to examine the effects of sex and gender on the role of the immune system in HFD-induced hypertension and vascular dysfunction.

Sex: A change in our guidelines to authors to ensure that this is no longer an ignored experimental variable

“…In particular, the growth of sex/gender research in pharmacology has stimulated the commissioning of a BJP Themed Issue on this topic in 2019. In this themed issue alone, there are reviews and original articles demonstrating that sex is an important determinant of physiology, disease phenotype, and drug response from diverse systems of the body spanning across schizophrenia (Gogos, Ney, Seymour, Van Rheenen, & Felmingham, 2019), fear sensation (Clark et al, 2019) to metabolism (Henstridge, Abildgaard, Lindegaard, & Febbraio, 2019) and obesity (Taylor, Ramirez, Musail, & Sullivan, 2019). A focus upon sex driving diversity in drug response is also evident from the literature: Recent examples include that airway smooth muscle, isolated from obese females, manifests greater agonist‐induced excitation–contraction coupling than those derived from lean males, females, or from obese males (Orfanos et al, 2018) and that sex differences in the thermoregulatory and behavioural responses to the CNS stimulant, cathinone (Alsufyani & Docherty, 2017), have been identified.…”

Ordinal Regression Model to Predict Hypertension

“…The study also found that most of the respondents with hypertension were women. 10 The characteristics of respondents based on education are mostly elementary schools. The level of education is one of the factors affecting knowledge.…”

Adipose Tissue-Endothelial Cell Interactions in Obesity-Induced Endothelial Dysfunction

“…ED is a hallmark of obesity-induced hypertension. Insulin resistance and increased systolic blood pressure led to ED in obesity; however, targeting these factors presented with different benefits depending on sex ( 61 ) and ethnic group ( 62 ). RAS hyperactivity was often thought to result from Ang II-dependent stimulation of the Ang II type 1 receptor (AT1R).…”