Spotlight on gender

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Abstract
It is well established that important differences exist between women and men with regard to the function and diseases of the cardiovascular system. Women appear to be protected from the most common form of cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease, when compared to men. The reason(s) for this apparent protection in women are not fully understood and may not solely be related to hormonal differences. Data generated from epidemiological studies and basic science research about steroid hormone receptors and ion channels in cells provide evidence for distinct differences with regard to gender. Despite a wealth of surrogate endpoint and observational data suggesting hormones may play a cardioprotective role in women, clinical trials have yielded unexpected findings and at this time do not provide evidence to assert that hormone replacement therapy reduces the risk of cardiovascular events in women. We hope that this series of articles in the Spotlight issue will highlight some of the interesting gender differences in cardiovascular disease. We are pleased to present both invited reviews and original data.

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