Sex Differences in Right Ventricular-Vascular Coupling and Pulmonary Artery Impedance in Response to Chronic Hypoxia and Recovery

Pulmonary artery hypertension (PAH) is a female dominant disease (the female-to-male ratio is 4:1), characterized by small distal pulmonary arterial narrowing and large proximal arterial stiffening, which increase right ventricle (RV) afterload and ultimately lead to RV failure [1,2]. Our recent studies have shown that collagen accumulation induced by chronic hypoxia increases the stiffness of the large extralobar pulmonary arteries (PAs) [3], and affects pulmonary vascular impedance (PVZ) [4]. The role of collagen in the female predominance in developing PAH has not been explored to date.