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Review
. 2010 Mar;6(2):285-96.
doi: 10.2217/whe.09.88.

Development of pulmonary arterial hypertension in women: interplay of sex hormones and pulmonary vascular disease

Meredith E Pugh  1 , Anna R Hemnes
Affiliations
Review

Development of pulmonary arterial hypertension in women: interplay of sex hormones and pulmonary vascular disease

Meredith E Pugh et al. Womens Health (Lond). 2010 Mar.

Abstract

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a progressive disease of the pulmonary vasculature, ultimately resulting in right heart failure and death. This disease is strongly predominant in females, although little is known regarding how sex influences disease development. Recent developments highlighting the importance of estrogen metabolites in both animal models and human disease have substantially increased our understanding of PAH in women. This review will focus on general knowledge of PAH, translational and basic science data regarding sex hormones in the pulmonary vasculature and on clinical issues that are particular to women with PAH. Future directions for study include the influence of sex hormones on right ventricular responses, improving the understanding of the influence of estrogen exposure in human disease and the study of dehydroepiandrosterone in basic science and human disease.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Sex hormone synthetic pathway
A: Aromatase; COMT: Catechol-O-methyltransferase; DHEA: Dehydroepiandrosterone; MEOE2: Methoxyestradiol; OHE: Hydroxyestrogen; OHE2: Hydroxyestradiol. Adapted from [51,52].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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