Gender differences of gene expression profiles in brain cardiovascular centers of SHRs [nucleus of solitarii tract]

Arterial pressure (AP) is lower in pre-menopausal women than in men of similar age. Pre-menopausal women exhibit a lower sympathetic outflow and a greater baroreceptor reflex, however molecular mechanisms for the gender differences of AP regulation are still not well understood. Since the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS), a pivotal region of the medulla oblongata for regulating the set-point of AP, is strongly associated with the AP level, we hypothesized that a different neuronal functions at the level of NTS between men and women could contribute to the gender difference in cardiovascular homeostasis. Since females Spontaneous Hypertensive Rats (SHRs) clearly exhibit lower AP levels than their male counterparts at similar age, we investigated whether the NTS of SHRs exhibit gender differences in gene expression by using microarray technique.绝经前女性的动脉血压（Arterial pressure, AP）低于同龄男性。绝经前女性的交感神经传出活动更低、压力感受性反射更强，但目前对于血压调节存在性别差异的分子机制仍不甚明确。延髓中调节动脉血压调定点的关键区域孤束核（nucleus tractus solitarius, NTS）与动脉血压水平密切相关，据此我们提出假说：男女在孤束核水平的神经元功能存在差异，这可能是导致心血管稳态存在性别差异的原因。由于同龄的雌性自发性高血压大鼠（Spontaneous Hypertensive Rats, SHRs）的动脉血压显著低于雄性个体，我们采用基因芯片技术探究了自发性高血压大鼠的孤束核是否存在性别相关的基因表达差异。