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For patients with coronary atheroma, high-intensity statin treatment is associated with greater regression in women than men, suggests a new study. 

Researchers examined sex-related differences in coronary atheroma regression after high-intensity statin treatment. It was found that women were older and more likely to have hypertension, diabetes; and higher low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels than men.

Compared with men, at follow-up women had higher HDL-C (P < 0.001) and CRP (P < 0.001) but similar LDL-C (P = 0.46) levels, the press release added.

Researchers observed that women had lower baseline percent atheroma volume (PAV) and total atheroma volume (TAV) than men, but after treatment they demonstrated greater PAV regression and TAV regression. 

Female sex was independently associated with PAV regression on multivariate analysis (P = 0.01), and there was a sex-treatment interaction (P = 0.036), according to the press release.

"Women with coronary disease demonstrate greater coronary atheroma regression than men when empirically prescribed guideline-driven potent statin therapy," the authors write in the study.

The study was published in the JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging.