A possible relationship between Takotsubo cardiomyopathy and female sex steroid-related modulation of functional cerebral asymmetry

Abstract

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (Tc) is a transient left ventricular apical ballooning syndrome, with symptoms and signs of acute myocardial infarction. Tc syndrome, which occurs predominantly in postmenopausal women, is characterized by increase of sympathetic activity.Studies on the gender-specific differences in sympatho-vagal regulation and functional cerebral asymmetry (FCA) imply that female pattern of dominance is characterized by the left hemisphere, which is believed to have parasympathetic predominance, whereas male pattern indicates dominance of the right hemisphere, which is believed to have sympathetic predominance. Fluctuating levels of female sex steroids are supposed to change FCA, modulating transcallosal inter-hemispheric inhibition across the menstrual cycle. The findings suggest that FCA is enhanced during the low steroid phase (menstrual phase), whereas, during high estrogen and/or progesterone phases (follicular and luteal phase) FCA is reduced. This theory is in line with concept of decreased magnitude of inter-hemispheric cortical lateralization in premenopausal women compared to men and postmenopausal women.Therefore, if postmenopausal women are more lateralized for a variety of cerebral functions, they have less balanced equilibrium between the right-sided sympathetic and left-sided parasympathetic predominance. Decrease of endogenous female sex steroid levels in postmenopausal women leads to reduced influence of estrogens to the left hemisphere, which is believed to have parasympathetic predominance. If both of these mechanisms result in sympatho-vagal imbalance, increasing sympathetic system activity in postmenopausal women, it seems reasonable why postmenopausal women became more susceptible to sympathetically-mediated syndromes such as Takotsubo cardiomyopathy.