Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2015 Apr 27:6:61.
doi: 10.3389/fendo.2015.00061. eCollection 2015.

Sexual Dimorphism in Glucose and Lipid Metabolism during Fasting, Hypoglycemia, and Exercise

Maka S Hedrington  1 , Stephen N Davis  1
Affiliations
Review

Sexual Dimorphism in Glucose and Lipid Metabolism during Fasting, Hypoglycemia, and Exercise

Maka S Hedrington et al. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). .

Abstract

Sexually dimorphic physiologic responses occur during fasting, hypoglycemia, and exercise. The areas covered in this mini review include studies that have used isotopic tracer methods and/or euglycemic clamp studies to investigate substrate metabolism during the above common physiologic stress. Women have greater reliance on lipid metabolism during fasting, hypoglycemia, and exercise while men exhibit preference of carbohydrate utilization. Plasma glucose concentrations were shown to be lower, while free fatty acids (FFA) and lipolysis higher in women compared to men after fasting. Hypoglycemia resulted in significantly reduced epinephrine, norepinephrine, glucagon, growth hormone, pancreatic polypeptide, and hepatic glucose production responses in females as compared to males. Sexual dimorphism during exercise was demonstrated by higher glycerol and FFA responses in women compared to men and higher carbohydrate oxidation rate in men. Mechanisms that can increase lipolytic rates in women include higher total fat mass, enhanced lipolytic sensitivity to epinephrine, and increased activation of β adrenergic receptors.

Keywords: exercise; fasting; glucose; hypoglycemia; lipids; metabolism.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Gender-based differences in glucose and lipid metabolism during hypoglycemia ↑ – increased, ↑ ↑ – significantly increased, ANS – autonomic nervous system, HGP – hepatic glucose production, FFA – free fatty acids.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Gender-based differences in glucose and lipid metabolism during exercise. ↑, increased; ↑ ↑, significantly increased ANS autonomic nervous system; HGP, hepatic glucose production; FFA, free fatty acids.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Maughan RJ, Fallah J, Coyle EF. The effects of fasting on metabolism and performance. Br J Sports Med (2010) 44(7):490–4.10.1136/bjsm.2010.072181 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Browning JD, Baxter J, Satapati S, Burgess SC. The effect of short-term fasting on liver and skeletal muscle lipid, glucose, and energy metabolism in healthy women and men. J Lipid Res (2012) 53(3):577–86.10.1194/jlr.P020867 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Mittendorfer B, Horowitz JF, Klein S. Gender differences in lipid and glucose kinetics during short-term fasting. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab (2001) 281(6):E1333–9. - PubMed
    1. Soeters MR, Sauerwein HP, Groener JE, Aerts JM, Ackermans MT, Glatz JF, et al. Gender-related differences in the metabolic response to fasting. J Clin Endocrinol Metab (2007) 92(9):3646–52.10.1210/jc.2007-0552 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Haymond MW, Karl IE, Clarke WL, Pagliara AS, Santiago JV. Differences in circulating gluconeogenic substrates during short-term fasting in men, women, and children. Metabolism (1982) 31(1):33–42.10.1016/0026-0495(82)90024-5 - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources