Centre for Female Health and Neurodevelopment, Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London, London, United Kingdom.
Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2010 Sep;1205:245-53. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2010.05673.x.
Previous studies in postmenopausal women have reported that estrogen treatment (ET) modulates the risk for developing Alzheimer's disease (AD). It has recently been hypothesized that there may be a "critical period" around the time of menopause during which the prescription of ET may reduce the risk of developing AD in later life. This effect may be most significant in women under 49 years old. Furthermore, prescription of ET after this point may have a neutral or negative effect, particularly when initiated in women over 60-65 years old. In this paper, we review recent studies that use in vivo techniques to analyze the neurobiological mechanisms that might underpin estrogen's effects on the brain postmenopause. Consistent with the "critical period" hypothesis, these studies suggest that the positive effects of estrogen are most robust in young women and in older women who had initiated ET around the time of menopause.
先前针对绝经后女性的研究报告指出，雌激素治疗（ET）可调节阿尔茨海默病（AD）的发病风险。最近有假说认为，在绝经前后可能存在一个“关键时期”，在此期间处方 ET 可能会降低日后发生 AD 的风险。这一效应在 49 岁以下的女性中最为显著。此外，在此之后处方 ET 可能会产生中性或负面的影响，尤其是在 60-65 岁以上的女性中开始使用时。在本文中，我们回顾了使用体内技术来分析可能构成雌激素对绝经后大脑影响的神经生物学机制的最新研究。这些研究与“关键时期”假说一致，表明雌激素的积极作用在年轻女性和绝经前后开始 ET 的老年女性中最为显著。
