Carola Y. Förster and Michiaki Nagai
University of Wurzburg, Germany Hiroshima City Asa Hospital, Japan
Title: Estrogen Receptor-Beta activation: A novel approach to prevent ischemic brain damage as a comorbidity of heart failure
Biography
Biography: Carola Y. Förster and Michiaki Nagai
Abstract
In recent years, greater attention has been placed on the impact of biological sex and hormonal status in regards to a predisposition for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and response to therapy. Women generally have a lower risk for developing CVD compared to men of similar age but this protection is lost during menopause, suggesting the importance of sex steroid hormone signaling. Although estrogens are viewed as female sex hormones and androgens are viewed as male sex hormones, estrogen and androgen signaling govern a multitude of physiological processes in both women and men. Our biomedical research thus focuses on the protective role of estrogen in the vasculature and pathophysiology of cardiovascular disorders of public health significance, such as heart failure, stress-induced cardiomyopathy (e.g. Takotsubo syndrome) and ischemic stroke as a frequent comorbidity. We will present a set of experiments implementing estrogen receptor beta mediated pathways of cardio-protection and pilot experiments relating estrogen receptor status, endothelial dysfunction and stroke susceptibility potentially contributing to the pathophysiology of Takotsubo syndrome.