Male hormones may ward off heart damage

SYDNEY, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- Australian researchers say male hormones may help vessels around the heart regenerate.

Study leader Daniel Sieveking of the Heart Research Institute and the University of Sydney suggests males may suffer heart damage because their levels of male hormones -- collectively referred to as androgens -- have dropped.

Sieveking and colleagues found cells derived from the umbilical cord of a human male fetus responded to androgens by moving and multiplying -- activities associated with new vessel growth. The researchers also find castrated mice producing fewer androgens fared poorly when vessels suffered injuries resembling those caused by heart attack or a stroke.

Treating the castrated mice with androgens hastened their recovery.

The study authors propose androgen replacement therapy might one day be used to treat men at risk for heart disease. However, the researchers caution androgens have been shown to assist in tumor growth in prostate cancer -- perhaps by stimulating tumor-promoting vessel growth.

The findings are published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.