Estrogen decline alters brain cell matrix in older females

A largely overlooked space between cells in women's brains may hold the key to understanding memory loss tied to estrogen decline after menopause, reports a new preclinical Northwestern Medicine study.

Nearly two-thirds of Americans with Alzheimer's disease (AD) are women, but the reasons why women are more vulnerable are still not fully understood. Scientists have long theorized that the loss of estrogen after menopause may reduce the brain's natural protection against memory loss and neurodegeneration.

In the new study, the scientists examined young and old male and female mice, with or without loss of brain estrogen, which allowed them to pinpoint the effects specifically relevant to older females. They found estrogen loss, aging and female sex are closely linked to problems in an important but frequently ignored aspect of brain biology called the extracellular matrix (ECM), which is highly abundant in the hippocampus.

This study tells us that females - but not males - may be uniquely sensitive to loss of brain estrogen at old age, potentially contributing to an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease."