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Dr Gérald Kierzek (Medical Director of Doctissimo)
Published in the journal Science of this Thursday, September 1, the research work carried out by an Inserm team from Lille Neuroscience & Cognition and the Vaudois University Hospital in Lausanne demonstrates that the cognitive functions of people affected by trisomy 21 can be improved. through hormone therapy.
Trisomy 21 is a severe handicap that affects one in 800 births in France. Caused by the presence of an extra chromosome 21, this genetic anomaly cannot be cured at present. But scientists continue to study this disability and have potentially uncovered a promising treatment.
hormone treatment
It was by administering a treatment based on GnRH, a pituitary gonadotropin-releasing hormone which is secreted by the hypothalamus, that researchers realized the improvement in the cognitive functions of disabled people. Indeed, the scientists found that with this hormonal treatment, the patients understood the instructions better, reasoned better, were more attentive… Very promising results for people affected by this handicap and those around them.
mouse work
The scientists carried out this work after the results obtained by Inserm researchers in Lille on mice, whose cognitive functions improved following hormonal treatment based on GnRH.
They had the idea of injecting this hormone by a micro pump implanted in the arms of these people with Down syndrome, on the same principle as insulin for people with diabetes, by the subcutaneous route. The participants received a dose of the hormone every two hours for six months. The cohort, men between the ages of 20 and 50, also had an MRI and tests before and after treatment. An improvement was noted in six of the seven patients subjected to the treatment.
Small cohort, for now
Despite these encouraging conclusions, the researchers urge caution because the cohort on which the hormone treatment was tested remains quite small for the moment. Indeed, hormone treatment has only been tested on seven people so far. But already a broader study must be launched. For Nelly Pitteloud, professor at the Faculty of Biology and Medicine at the University of Lausanne and head of the endocrinology, diabetology and metabolism department of the Swiss University Hospital, “GnRH therapy is promising”, especially since it does not has no “noticeable side effects”.