A study published in Nature Medicine identified 16 blood proteins that change across the menopause transition and are associated with measures of brain aging and later dementia risk. The findings suggest that menopause-related biological changes may provide a way to study cognitive health in midlife, but they do not mean that menopause causes Alzheimer’s disease.
Researchers first examined blood protein data from women at different menopausal stages and found changes in proteins linked to inflammatory, synaptic, metabolic and Alzheimer’s-related processes. In this initial group, the protein patterns tracked more closely with menopausal stage and hormone levels than with chronological age.
The team then compared results with data from 2,814 women in the UK Biobank, where the menopause-related changes were also associated with markers of aging across organs, including the brain. In four additional cohorts, comprising 11,925 older women, higher scores for the protein signature were consistently associated with poorer cognitive outcomes. In the largest longitudinal dataset, the signature was linked to a modestly increased risk of an Alzheimer’s dementia diagnosis over a follow-up period of up to 16 years.
The authors say the findings could help guide research into blood biomarkers and potential targets for supporting brain health in midlife. They caution that the clinical meaning of individual protein changes remains uncertain and that the signature does not predict that a woman will develop Alzheimer’s disease.
Sources: Neuroscience News.