Men have a higher risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) early in life, while women have a higher risk later in life. The sex-related differences in CVD risk, especially by age, could be related to sphingolipid metabolism. We compared plasma sphingolipid concentrations and its increase by age in men and women. Plasma concentrations of 13 types of sphingolipids were measured by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry in a random subsample of 328 men and 372 women of Dutch and South-Asian Surinamese ethnic origin, participating in the HELIUS study. Sphingolipid concentrations were compared between men and women by age group (18–39, 40–55, and 56–70 years). Multiple linear regression was used to determine sex differences in age trends in sphingolipids stratified by ethnicity. Analyses were performed without adjustment and adjusted for body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference. At age 18–39 years, sphingolipid concentrations were lower in women than those in men, but at age 56–70 years this was reversed. At higher age, women showed higher concentrations than men. In line, we observed a more rapid increase of sphingolipid concentrations by age in women than in men. The observed sex differences were not explained by BMI or waist circumference. Patterns of sex differences were similar across ethnic groups, although the strength of associations differed. Mean sphingolipid concentrations increase more rapidly with age in women than in men. Therefore, plasma lipid concentrations of sphingolipids, although lower in women than in men at younger age, are higher in women than in men at older age.

中文翻译：

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居住在荷兰阿姆斯特丹的荷兰人和南亚苏里南人的鞘脂与年龄相关的性别差异

男性在生命早期患心血管疾病 (CVD) 的风险更高，而女性在生命后期的风险更高。CVD 风险的性别相关差异，尤其是年龄差异，可能与鞘脂代谢有关。我们比较了男性和女性的血浆鞘脂浓度及其随年龄增长的情况。在参与 HELIUS 研究的 328 名荷兰和南亚苏里南族裔男性和 372 名女性的随机子样本中，通过液相色谱-串联质谱法测量了 13 种鞘脂的血浆浓度。按年龄组（18-39、40-55 和 56-70 岁）比较男性和女性的鞘脂浓度。多元线性回归用于确定按种族分层的鞘脂中年龄趋势的性别差异。分析在没有调整的情况下进行，并针对体重指数 (BMI) 和腰围进行了调整。在 18-39 岁时，女性的鞘脂浓度低于男性，但在 56-70 岁时，这种情况发生逆转。在较高年龄，女性比男性表现出更高的浓度。同样，我们观察到女性的鞘脂浓度随年龄增长比男性更快。观察到的性别差异不能用 BMI 或腰围解释。不同种族的性别差异模式相似，尽管关联强度不同。与男性相比，女性的平均鞘脂浓度随着年龄的增长而增加得更快。因此，鞘脂的血浆脂质浓度虽然在年轻时女性低于男性，但在老年时女性高于男性。