Studies indicate that men and women differ significantly in their lipid ratio profiles. For example, females have higher high density lipoprotein levels and lower triglyceride levels than men[1][2]. Moreover, the controlled animal studies have demonstrated that lipid level differences are, in part, sex-related. Researchers associate these differences with less fatty steak formation in the females, concluding that the metabolism of the same lipid diet and consequently the production of fatty streak are sex-dependent[3]. Although, this sex-related difference may be the result of multiple factors such as hormones, vessel wall, monocyte, or macrophage interaction differences. Buchanan[4] suggests that there is ultimately a difference in male and female metabolism of lipid, therefore, the treatment of hyperlipidemia should also be sex related.
There may also be a difference in the treatment of dyslipidemia in men and women with known coronary artery disease. Both men and women, but especially women, were found to be undertreated with lipid-lowering agents in a study at North American academic medical centres.[5]
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1. Redberg, R.F., (1998) Diagnostic Testing for Coronary Artery Disease in Women and Gender Differences in Referral for Revascularization. Cardiology Clinics, 16(1): 67-77.
2. Mosca, L., Grundy, S.M., Judelson, D., (1999) Guide to Preventive Cardiology for Women. Circ, 99:2480-2484.
3. Wilson, T.A., Nicolosi, R.J., Lawton, C.W., Babiak, J. (1999) Gender Differences in Response to a Hypercholestrolemic Diet in Hamsters: Effects on Plasma Lipoprotein Cholestrol Concentrations and Early Aortic Atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis, 146:83-91.
4. Buchanan, M., Brister, S., (2000) Sex Related Differences in The Pathophysiology of Cardiovascular Disease: Is There A Rational For Sex-Related Treatments? Canadian Cardiovascular Society Consensus Conference: Women and Ischemic Heart Disease, October 2000: 2/1-2/28.
5. Miller M, et al. (PREVENT) investigators. Sex Bias and Underutilization of Lipid-Lowering Therapy in Patients With Coronary Artery Disease at Academic Medical Centers in the United States and Canada. Arch Intern Med 2000;160:343-347 accessed March 28, 2006 http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/160/3/343
