The aging secrets of women’s brain are tested in the research trio

Women’s brains are better than men at least in one respect – they age slower. And now a group of researchers reports that they have found a gene in mice that rejuvenates the female brains.

People have the same gen. The discovery suggests a possible way to support both women and men avoid cognitive declines at an advanced age.

. test It was published on Wednesday in the journal Science Advans. The journal also published two other studies on women’s brains, one on the impact of hormone therapy on the brain, and the other on how the age of menopause shapes the risk of obtaining Alzheimer’s disease.

The gene that slows down the aging of the brain

. evidence that women’s brain ages slower than men It seemed convincing.

Scientists, looking at the way the brain uses blood sugar levels, have already discovered that the brains of aging women are Young yearsin metabolic categories than the brains of aging men.

Other scientists, by examining DNA markings, found that the female brains are about a year younger than men’s brains.

And careful cognitive research of vigorous elderly people showed that women had better memories and cognitive function than men of the same age.

Dr. Dena Dubal, a professor of neurology at the University of California in San Francisco, decided to understand why.

“We really wanted to know what might be at the basis of this feminine immunity,” said Dr. Dubal. So she and her colleagues focused on one factor that distinguishes women and men: X chromosome. Women have two chromosomes X; Males have one X and Y chromosome.

At the beginning of pregnancy, one of the x chromosomes in women closes, and his genes almost tranquil. Dr Dubal stated, however, that the changes in calming down.

She and her colleagues looked at the Hippocampus, a center of memory and cognition of the brain, which worsens in the age and is havoc by Alzheimer.

Looking at the aging of the hippocampus, “we were surprised when we found that the genes were awake,” said Dr. Dubal, referring to Noiseless X chromosomes. The study was carried out at aging mice, but scientists believe that the discovery applies to people, because mice show the same related to age, and women work better than men.

Her group focused on one specific footwear gene, PLP1. It creates a protein, which is a part of myeline, fatty cover around nerve cells, which “allows you to swim forward and back, like a highway,” said Dr. Dubal.

What would happen, did she ask, did she employ gene therapy to give the aging male mice the plp1 dose in their hippocamples?

Her team said that mice regained memory and cognition. Dr. Dubal added that they didn’t even have to give the gene many cells. “Only a little strengthening has gone a long way,” she said.

Then she gave the gene therapy of females mouse, although they were already doing PLP1. Their memories and cognition have become even better.

“I’m very excited,” said Dr. Dubal. “Even the elderly brain can become more youthful and function better.”

Alzheimer and hormone therapy

Millions of women employ hormone therapy to alleviate menopause symptoms, such as scorching strokes and vaginal dryness, but there is a fear of how this can affect the brain.

The problem was raised when huge and tough Federal studyWomen’s Health Initiative, published in 2003, it was found that Prempro, popular hormonal treatment then doubled the risk of dementia.

Since then, other scientists argued that the risk depends on when the woman takes hormones. They say that if she takes them within 10 years of menopause, her brain will be fine. Current Treatment guidelines reflect this view.

Down examine What happens in the brain after hormone therapy, Rachel F. Buckley, a neurobiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and her colleagues recruited 146 vigorous women aged 51 to 89. Scala women’s brain for tau, protein that accumulates in the brains of people with Alzheimer.

Investigators only knew the age of women and whether they ever took hormone therapy. To the surprise, Dr. Buckley saw the effect.

Women over 70 years elderly who received hormone therapy had a greater accumulation of TAU than women who never had it. Having more TAU did not mean that women had Alzheimer’s disease, but they could put them on the way to illness.

Women under 70 years elderly in the study had no more tau in their brains. But scientists said that they did not know if younger women who took hormones would have more Tau in later life.

The study was observational, which means that it cannot prove the cause and effect. Women with more TAU could be different in other ways that scientists did not take into account, which left uncertainty about the discovery.

Dr. Buckley, asked what advice to women would give on the subject of hormone therapy and the risk of Alzheimer, he said “talk to the doctor”, admitting that this was not a satisfactory answer.

Age of menopause and Alzheimer

Other test Published on Wednesday, clinical data and data from autopsy to compare the brain comparison of 268 women. Some started menopause early, about 45 years, and the rest began at a more typical age around 50.

Scientists who conducted the study found that the age of menopause had no influence on the cognitive decline, the integrity of the synaps of the brain or the Alzheimer’s brain markers.

Results, said Madeline Wood Alexander, the main author of the study and PhD student at the Sunnybrook Research Institute in Toronto, “they were not what we expected.” Scientists thought that women who had previously started menopause would have worse brain function. This is due to the fact that estrogen levels that can protect neurons fall in menopause, the authors said.

Scientists have identified one correlation, which they emphasized as the main discovery: the synapses of women who previously start menopause, may become more susceptible to changes related to Alzheimer’s disease when they naturally deteriorate.

They informed that they did not see this influence in women with early menopause, which used hormone therapy.

The results interfere with those of other studies that indicated hormone therapy can escalate the risk of alzheimer -like changes in the brain. There was no clear explanation of seemingly contradictory findings.

But experts not involved in any of the studies questioned conclusions about early menopause and hormone therapy. They said that they were not convinced by statistical analyzes and modeling that led to this correlation.

Dr. Deborah Grady, a retired professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of California in San Francisco, said that it is tough to interpret research that is analyzed such as things such as the susceptibility of Synaps. She said that if she had an impact on menopause, she would like to see how she appeared during the actual incidence of Alzheimer’s disease in these women.

Dr. Jacques Rossoouw, who was a program officer in the Women’s Health Initiative, had similar concerns. He added that the authors performed so many statistical tests that it is possible that the correlation they found took place by accident.

And even if it is true, he said: “This cannot be a substantial effect if it was not affected by the age of menopause on Alzheimer’s pathology.”