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Many questions still exist today around the understanding of Alzheimer’s disease. Science also wonders why women after menopause are more affected than men. Researchers might have a lead, that of the FSH hormone.
Postmenopausal women are more affected by this neurodegenerative disease
Epidemiological data show that women run a greater risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease than men. According to 2017 data from the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm), out of 25 patients, 10 people are men and 15 are women. Until then, the reasons were unexplained. However, researchers from Emory University School of Medicine in the United States and Wuhan University in China have pinpointed a possible cause. It would be the follicle-stimulating hormone, called FSH hormone. The study, co-authored by Jing Xiong, was published in the scientific journal Nature.
According to this research, it turns out that female hormones could have a significant impact on the formation of amyloid plaques and tau proteins in the brain. As a reminder, it is the accumulation of β‑amyloid peptide favoring the appearance of deposits in the hippocampus which is, among other things, responsible for the onset of symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.
According to the study, the hormone FSH could accelerate the formation of these “senile plaques” via the so-called C/EBPβ/AEP pathway. As Dr. Zaidi Mone, the author and tenured professor at Mount Sinai (New York Hospital Network) put it, “During menopause, serum FSH concentration increases sharply, binding to the cognate FSH receptor on neurons and activating the C/EBPβ/AEP pathway. This results in Aβ and Tau pathologies, leading to the development of Alzheimer’s disease”.
Blocking the hormone FSH could limit the progression of Alzheimer’s disease
To reach these conclusions, several experiments were carried out on mouse models. A group of male mice received the hormone FSH by injection. It was then observed that the chemical substance promoted the development of symptoms suggestive of Alzheimer’s disease.
Another group of mice, female and having had their ovaries removed, were involved. Researchers observed how they responded to treatment with anti-FSH antibodies and suppression of FSH receptors. They then noticed that the pathological signs were reduced while the cognitive disorders were stimulated.
The next step for this team of researchers is to find a possible link between certain genes, hormones and the onset of Alzheimer’s disease in women. For scientists, this is a theory that could be involved in other chronic pathologies, such as diabetes or atherosclerosis.
“We demonstrated that FSH blockade not only ameliorates Alzheimer’s disease pathology, but also reduces bone loss and body fat in mouse models.“, says Dr. Zaidi.”These results could provide the framework for the development of a single FSH blocking agent for use in humans to treat Alzheimer’s disease, obesity and osteoporosis, diseases that affect millions of people worldwide.“.