Heart disease:Scientists at the University of Bonn have discovered that a receptor for the female sex hormone oestrogen,called ER-Alpha
Scientists at the University of Bonn have discovered that a receptor for the female sex hormone oestrogen, called ER-Alpha, plays a key role in women's vulnerability to coronary heart disease.
The breakthrough could lead to therapies specifically targeted at women.
While it is widely accepted that men tend to get coronary heart disease at an early age, it is not commonly acknowledged that heart disease is more deadly in women.
Each year, over eight million women worldwide die from the disease.
Previously, it was thought that the gender difference was linked to effect of exposure to the male sex hormone, testosterone.
But the Bonn team of scientists have found ER-Alpha has a key influence on the electrical properties of the female heart muscle.
The research concluded that if a female lacks the ER-Alpha receptor, the electrical property of heart function closely mirrors that of males.
Commenting, Dr Andy James, a lecturer in physiology at Bristol University, said: "This is a departure from the currently well-publicised but controversial suggestion that oestrogen protects women against heart disease." In a separate development, the scientists also discovered a number of important differences between men and women's chances of suffering potentially fatal disturbances to the normal heart function (arrhythmia), with women being three times more likely than men to suffer from a form of arrhythmia associated with unwanted drug side effects.
