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Review
. 2021 Aug 26;10(17):3833.
doi: 10.3390/jcm10173833.

Sex-Specific Impacts of Exercise on Cardiovascular Remodeling

Rifat A Islam  1 , Siri Sham S Khalsa  2 , Arpita K Vyas  2 , Roshanak Rahimian  1
Affiliations
Review

Sex-Specific Impacts of Exercise on Cardiovascular Remodeling

Rifat A Islam et al. J Clin Med. .

Abstract

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) remain the leading cause of death in men and women. Biological sex plays a major role in cardiovascular physiology and pathological cardiovascular remodeling. Traditionally, pathological remodeling of cardiovascular system refers to the molecular, cellular, and morphological changes that result from insults, such as myocardial infarction or hypertension. Regular exercise training is known to induce physiological cardiovascular remodeling and beneficial functional adaptation of the cardiovascular apparatus. However, impact of exercise-induced cardiovascular remodeling and functional adaptation varies between males and females. This review aims to compare and contrast sex-specific manifestations of exercise-induced cardiovascular remodeling and functional adaptation. Specifically, we review (1) sex disparities in cardiovascular function, (2) influence of biological sex on exercise-induced cardiovascular remodeling and functional adaptation, and (3) sex-specific impacts of various types, intensities, and durations of exercise training on cardiovascular apparatus. The review highlights both animal and human studies in order to give an all-encompassing view of the exercise-induced sex differences in cardiovascular system and addresses the gaps in knowledge in the field.

Keywords: cardiac remodeling; exercise; exercise-induced cardiovascular remodeling (EICR); sex differences; vascular remodeling.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Impacts of exercise and its sex-specific influences on cardiac (A) and vascular (B) remodeling in humans and animals. ↓decrease, ↑increase, left ventricular (LV), stroke volume (SV), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), flow-mediated dilation (FMD), pulse wave velocity (PWV), blood pressure (BP), nitric oxide (NO), right ventricular (RV), ejection fraction (EF), tumor necrosis factor (TNF), interleukin (IL), nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH), angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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