The mechanisms underlying the age-dependent reversal of female cardioprotection are
poorly understood and complicated by findings that estrogen replacement is ineffective at
reducing cardiovascular mortality in postmenopausal women. Although several protective
signals have been identified in young animals, including PKC and Akt, how these signals
are affected by age, estrogen deficiency, and ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) remains unknown.
To determine the independent and combined effects of age and estrogen deficiency on I/R …