Advanced Institute of Aging Science, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, Republic of Korea.
Advanced Institute of Aging Science, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, Republic of Korea; Department of Urology, Chonnam National University Hospital, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, Republic of Korea.
J Sex Med. 2018 May;15(5):662-670. doi: 10.1016/j.jsxm.2018.03.006. Epub 2018 Apr 6.
Investigation of the effect of sex hormones on the brain volume in women provides a unique opportunity to examine menopause-related morphometric alterations.
To evaluate brain morphological alterations in post-menopausal women using voxel-based morphometry and its correlations with sex hormone levels.
20 Pre-menopausal women and 20 post-menopausal women underwent structural MRI.
T1-weighted magnetic resonance data were acquired and serum sex hormones including total estrogen, estriol, estradiol (E2), follicle-stimulating hormone, free testosterone, SHBG, and luteinizing hormone were measured.
Post-menopausal women showed decreased gray matter (GM) in the supplementary motor area (SMA), inferior frontal gyrus, olfactory cortex, and superior temporal gyrus as contrasted with pre-menopausal women using analysis of covariance (P < .05). The GM volume (GMV) values of the SMA, inferior frontal gyrus, and superior temporal gyrus were positively correlated with the levels of E2 in the pre-menopausal and post-menopausal women, in which the volume of the SMA was negatively correlated with the duration of time after menopause in post-menopausal women.
This finding is potentially applicable to assess the brain dysfunction with morphological changes in post-menopausal women.
Our study is the first to evaluate a direct relationship between the level of E2 and GMV change. We directly compared pre-menopausal and menopausal women un-matched in age. This study highlights the menopause-related morphological alterations in post-menopausal women, suggesting that the reduced GMV were closely associated with the symptoms of menopause caused by the decreased levels of E2. Kim G-W, Park K, Jeong G-W. Effects of Sex Hormones and Age on Brain Volume in Post-Menopausal Women. J Sex Med 2018;15:662-670.
研究性激素对女性大脑体积的影响为研究与绝经相关的形态变化提供了独特的机会。
使用基于体素的形态测量学评估绝经后妇女的大脑形态变化及其与性激素水平的相关性。
对 20 名绝经前妇女和 20 名绝经后妇女进行结构 MRI 检查。
与绝经前妇女相比，绝经后妇女的补充运动区（SMA）、额下回、嗅觉皮层和颞上回的灰质（GM）减少，采用协方差分析（P<.05）。SMA、额下回和颞上回的 GM 体积（GMV）值与绝经前和绝经后妇女的 E2 水平呈正相关，其中 SMA 的体积与绝经后妇女的绝经后时间呈负相关。
这一发现可能适用于评估绝经后妇女大脑功能障碍与形态变化。
本研究首次评估了 E2 水平与 GMV 变化之间的直接关系。我们直接比较了未匹配年龄的绝经前和绝经后妇女。这项研究强调了绝经后妇女与绝经相关的形态变化，表明 GMV 的减少与 E2 水平降低引起的绝经症状密切相关。Kim G-W、Park K、Jeong G-W。性激素和年龄对绝经后妇女脑容量的影响。性医学杂志 2018；15：662-670。
