Gender differences in ocular blood flow

Doreen Schmidl, Leopold Schmetterer*, Gerhard Garhöfer, Alina Popa-Cherecheanu

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

71 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Gender medicine has been a major focus of research in recent years. The present review focuses on gender differences in the epidemiology of the most frequent ocular diseases that have been found to be associated with impaired ocular blood flow, such as age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy. Data have accumulated indicating that hormones have an important role in these diseases, since there are major differences in the prevalence and incidence between men and pre- and post-menopausal women. Whether this is related to vascular factors is, however, not entirely clear. Interestingly, the current knowledge about differences in ocular vascular parameters between men and women is sparse. Although little data is available, estrogen, progesterone and testosterone are most likely important regulators of blood flow in the retina and choroid, because they are key regulators of vascular tone in other organs. Estrogen seems to play a protective role since it decreases vascular resistance in large ocular vessels. Some studies indicate that hormone therapy is beneficial for ocular vascular disease in post-menopausal women. This evidence is, however, not sufficient to give any recommendation. Generally, remarkably few data are available on the role of sex hormones on ocular blood flow regulation, a topic that requires more attention in the future.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)201-212
Number of pages12
JournalCurrent Eye Research
Volume40
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb 1 2015
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Informa Healthcare USA, Inc. All rights reserved: reproduction in whole or part not permitted.

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

  • Ophthalmology
  • Sensory Systems
  • Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience

Keywords

  • Age-related macular degeneration
  • Diabetic retinopathy
  • Gender
  • Glaucoma
  • Ocular blood flow

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