Kunio M, Wong G, Markham PM, Edelman ER. Sex differences in the outcomes of stent implantation in mini-swine model.

Summary: Sex-related differences have been noted in cardiovascular anatomy, pathophysiology, and treatment responses, yet we continued to drive evaluation of vascular device development in animal models without consideration of animal sex. We aimed to understand sex-related differences in the vascular responses to stent implantation by analyzing the pooled data of endovascular interventions in 164 Yucatan mini-swine (87 female, 77 male).

Only subtle temporal sex-related differences were observed in extent and timing of resolution of inflammation and fibrin clearance. These subtle sex-related differences may be increasingly important as interventional devices meld novel materials that erode and innovations in drug delivery. Erodible materials may act differently if inflammation has a different temporal sequence with sex, and drug distribution after balloon or stent delivery might be different if the fibrin clearance speaks to different modes of pharmacokinetics in male and female swine.

PLoS One. 2018 Jan 29;13(1):e0192004. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0192004. eCollection 2018.