Sex hormones may result in men being more prone to heart disease in comparison to women of a similar age, according to a new study led by the University of Leicester in the UK.

The results of the study suggest that this "male disadvantage" could be related to the gender-specific effects of naturally-occurring sex hormones.

Published online in the journal Atherosclerosis, the study involved 933 male participants with an average age of 19.

Researchers looked at the way the sex hormones testosterone, estradiol, androstenedione and estrone interacted with three major risk factors for heart disease.

These were cholesterol, weight and blood pressure.

It was found that estradiol and estrone are linked to increased levels of LDL cholesterol in men, as well as low levels of HDL cholesterol.

"Men with the highest concentrations of estrone and estradiol may have the highest level of cardiovascular risk as their levels of detrimental LDL-cholesterol are high whilst their cardio-protective HDL-cholesterol is low," comments Dr Maciej Tomaszewski from the academic institution.

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