Scientists at La Trobe University have uncovered a link between lower levels of estrogen receptors in the heart and a higher likelihood of obesity in postmenopausal women. The work, published in Nature Cardiovascular Research, adds to a growing body of evidence about how hormonal changes influence heart and metabolic health after menopause.
Estrogen is known to help protect the female heart. As women transition into menopause and estrogen declines, risks rise for heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. This study explored what happens when the heart’s ERα receptors, the proteins that enable cells to sense estrogen, are inhibited. These receptors sit in heart muscle cells that drive contraction. When the receptors were blocked, there was a notable drop in the activity of genes tied to the heart’s contractile function and its metabolic processes, suggesting a direct impact on cardiac performance.
Yet the most striking consequence appeared beyond the heart’s immediate mechanics. In female subjects, weight and fat mass increased following receptor blockage, a change not observed in male counterparts. This led researchers to consider how estrogen signaling in the heart might influence body composition in a sex-specific way. Attribution: Nature Cardiovascular Research.
Further investigation revealed that blocking ERα receptors caused abnormal extracellular vesicles to be released from the hearts of the female mice. These vesicles differed from those produced in normal female hearts and from male vesicles, indicating a potential shift in cellular communication patterns. Extracellular vesicles are tiny carriers that relay signals between organs and cells, and the scientists propose that the altered vesicles could steer energy usage toward storage rather than expenditure, contributing to fat accumulation. Attribution: Nature Cardiovascular Research.
The researchers emphasize that women who use medications capable of suppressing ERα receptors may experience weight gain and fat accumulation as a side effect. The findings point toward new avenues for preventing obesity by targeting estrogen receptor signaling and its downstream vesicle-mediated communication. While more work is needed to translate these animal results into human therapies, the study lays groundwork for a better understanding of how hormonal shifts after menopause influence both heart health and metabolism. Attribution: Nature Cardiovascular Research.