Objective: 

Gender-related differences in cardiovascular diseases, including pulmonary hypertension (PH) may be mediated by androgen action on the vasculature.

Design: 

twenty male Wistar rats were gonadectomized at the age of 8 weeks and twenty rats were used as matched controls. 3 weeks after operation was performed the rats were divided into 4 experimental groups: 1) normoxic rats with intact testicles 2) hypoxic rats with intact testicles 3) normoxic gonadectomized rats 4) hypoxic gonadectomized rats. Animals designated for exposure to CH were housed in a hypobaric chamber at simulated altitude of 5 000 m, 10 h a day, 2 wk, 7 days/wk. Age-matched normoxic control animals were housed at ambient air. After exposure to hypoxia, the right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP) and the right ventricular to total ventricular weight ratio (RV/T) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) were measured as indices of PH.

Results: 

No difference between measured variables was detected in normoxic groups. Two weeks after hypoxic exposure only rats from 2 group developed right ventricular hypertrophy (RV/T increased to 0.340.01 vs. 0.280.01 in 1 group) and systemic hypertension (MAP increased to 119.82.1 mmHg vs. 95.73.7 in 1 group). Gonadectomized rats showed no significant changes in RV/T and MAP compared to control. RVSP increased in both groups, but it was significantly higher in intact hypoxic rats compared to gonadoectomized hypoxic rats.

Conclusion: 

gonadectomy leads to reduction of pathological changes associated with hypoxia- induced PH both in pulmonary and systemic vasculature in male rats.