CALL FOR PAPERS Sex Differences in Renal and Cardiovascular Function: Physiology and Pathophysiology

doi:10.1152/ajpregu.00352.2006.—Aging, independently from the hormonal status, is a major risk factor for cardiovascular morbidity in healthy women. Therefore, we studied the effect of healthy aging on the cardiovascular homeostatic mechanisms in premenopausal and postmenopausal women with similar estrogen levels. Twelve healthy postmenopausal women, confirmed by follicular-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteal hormone (LH) levels, were compared with 14 normally menstruating women during the early follicular phase (young-EF), to avoid as much as possible the effects of estrogen. Systolic BP was 108 1.5 vs. 123 2.5 (P 0.001), supine norepinephrine was 260 30 vs. 216 45 and upright 640 100 vs. 395 50 pg/ml (P 0.05) in young-EF vs. postmenopausal, respectively. Plasma renin activity and aldosterone remained un-changed. Vagal cardiac tone indices decreased significantly with aging (young-EF vs. postmenopausal): high-frequency (HF) band