Zhu et al.,[1] documented gender differences in the occurrence of antibodies to cytomegalovirus (CMV) and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels and their relationship to development of CHD.
In men an elevated CRP level and CMV infection seem to contribute to CHD through inflammatory mechanisms. However, in a multivariate analysis CMV was not an independent risk factor for CAD among men. On the contrary, in women CMV seropositivity was exceedingly and independently a predictive of CAD. The researchers proposed that most likely there are many mechanisms by which infection leads to CAD. Furthermore, the individual host response, rather than the infectious agent, is likely dominant, and that there appears to be gender differences in the responses of the hosts.
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1. Zhu, J., Shearer, G.M., Norman, J.E., (2000) Host Response to Cytomegalovirus Infection as a Determinant of Susceptibility to Coronary Artery Disease: Sex Based Differences in Inflammation and Type of Immune Response. Circulation, 102:2491.
