Ontario (Canada): A new research has revealed significant role of female sex hormones in the manifestation of Alzheimer's disease, further explaining why the disease disproportionately affects women.
Previous research has shown Alzheimer's is more severe and spreads more rapidly in women, and women with Alzheimer's experience a sharper cognitive deterioration — loss of memory, attention, and the ability to communicate and make decisions — compared to men with the disease.
However, the biological reasoning for these differences between men and women with Alzheimer's disease were not well understood.
The researchers of University of Western Ontario in their study have now discovered that female sex hormones play a significant role in how Alzheimer's manifests in the brain.
The study, published in the journal Alzheimer's & Dementia, also highlighted the importance of developing therapeutic strategies focused on these hormonal connections.
The researchers also suggested better understanding of the role of Estradiol in Alzheimer's disease.
Estradiol or oestradiol, is an estrogen steroid hormone and the major female sex hormone, used therapeutically to mitigate menopause symptoms. It is involved in the regulation of the estrous and menstrual female reproductive cycles.
While the significance of the findings is important, the methodology behind them is equally critical, pointing to a necessary shift in scientific approaches.
"To understand how sex hormones play a role in Alzheimer's, we need to study appropriate animal models. Unfortunately, most studies at this level still focus mainly on the male brain. Our research emphasizes the importance of using animal models that reflect, for instance, postmenopausal women, to understand how sex hormones influence Alzheimer's pathology," said Vania Prado, professor, departments of physiology and pharmacology and anatomy & cell biology at Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry and scientist at Robarts Research Institute.
The new study shows that the brain chemistry of male and female mice regulates beta-amyloid protein in Alzheimer's in different ways, with the hormone estradiol contributing to this variation.
In the study, the researchers observed differences in beta-amyloid accumulation in male and female mice when changing the levels of cholinergic activity. Additionally, they analyzed brain MRI images of healthy older humans.
This study was led by graduate student Liliana German-Castelan, under the supervision of Vania Prado.
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