Are endodontic infection and endothelial dysfunction associated with different mechanisms in men and women?
The presence of chronic inflammation in young adults with AP may cause early endothelial dysfunction documented by the reduced EFR. AP in men may influence the metabolism of NOS, whereas in women it appears to implicate a more direct detrimental mechanism. This difference is sex dependent and may be attributable to the protective action of estrogen in women.
Our data show that serum SP levels are increased in a proportion of patients with major depression and might thus indicate a subgroup of the disorder in which neuropeptides have a key position. Future studies are needed to clarify whether the observed SP decrease in treatment responders can be attributed to a specific class of drugs.