Women are twice as likely as males to get Alzheimer’s disease (AD), according to epidemiological research, although the origin of this occurrence is unknown. However, a recent research may offer the answers. The research was published in the scientific journal ‘Nature.’
Alzheimer’s is a condition in which a person gradually forgets what they know. It is a painful punishment, both for those who are subjected to it and for those who are responsible for their care.
Prof. Keqiang Ye of the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology (SIAT) conducted the investigation, which offered a clear explanation to a question that has perplexed mankind for decades.
Prof. Ye’s team created the notion that the C/EBPb/AEP pathway was the central mechanism driving the development of neurodegenerative disorders by combining their prior findings.
“Based on this theory, our team searched for female hormones that are dramatically changed during menopause and tested which hormone selectively activates the C/EBPb/AEP pathway,” said Prof.
The key pathogenic component found by Prof. Ye’s team was follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH).
“FSH levels in the blood rise dramatically during menopause, attaching to the corresponding FSH receptor on neurons and activating the C/EBPb/AEP pathway. This resulted in Ab and Tau pathologies, which eventually led to the development of Alzheimer’s disease “Dr. Zaidi Mone, a tenured professor at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, is a co-corresponding author of the study.
To prove their point, the researchers used a variety of ways. They employed anti-FSH antibody therapy on ovariectomized mice to block FSH and inactivate the C/EBPb/AEP pathway. They also knocked down the expression of the FSH receptor (FSHR) in neurons, which prevented FSH from binding to FSHR in the hippocampus. Both of these approaches were successful in reducing disease and cognitive impairment.
In addition, knockdown of C/EBPb in the AD mice model decreased AD pathologies.
