Researchers have shown female sex hormones play a significant role in how Alzheimer's manifests in the brain. The study also highlights the importance of developing therapeutic strategies focused on these hormonal connections.
The research indicates a need to better understand the role of estradiol -- a form of the female sex hormone estrogen, used therapeutically to mitigate menopause symptoms -- in Alzheimer's disease.
In a new study in mice and humans, Western University researchers have shown female sex hormones play a significant role in how Alzheimer's manifests in the brain., also highlights the importance of developing therapeutic strategies focused on these hormonal connections. The research indicates a need to better understand the role of estradiol -- a form of the female sex hormone estrogen, used therapeutically to mitigate menopause symptoms -- in Alzheimer's disease.
Previous studies on mice and at-risk older individuals have revealed that cholinergic neurons, a type of brain cells that produce the chemical messenger acetylcholine, are particularly vulnerable to the damaging Alzheimer's-associated beta-amyloid accumulation in the brain. Additionally, acetylcholine has been shown to be essential for normal memory and cognition.
"We observed that the relationship between the integrity of the brain region where cholinergic neurons reside and beta-amyloid accumulation was the same for men and women but was different in male and female mice," said Marco Prado. The researchers suspected that the fact the female mice being studied were not post-menopausal, while women were, could be an attributing factor to the difference.
"Which explains why there were differences between the results of male and female mice and men and women in our initial exploration," said German-Castelan.
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