Gene expression from healthy male and female porcine aortic valve leaflets. Sus scrofa

Calcific aortic valvular disease (CAVD) is characterized by sclerosis of the aortic valve leaflets and recent clinical studies have linked several other risk factors to this disease, including male sex. In this study we examined potential sex-related differences in gene expression profiles between porcine male and female valvular interstitial cells (VICs) to explore possible differences in CAVD propensity on the cellular level. Overall design: RNA samples from three male and three female healthy porcine aortic valve leaflets (denuded of endothelial cells) were isolated, processed, and hybridized to Affymetrix® GeneChip Porcine Genome microarrays according to manufacturer’s instructions. Mean expression values of each probe set in the male samples were compared with those in the female samples.