LREN, Centre for Research in Neurosciences, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
LREN, Centre for Research in Neurosciences, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Neuroimage Clin. 2022;36:103239. doi: 10.1016/j.nicl.2022.103239. Epub 2022 Oct 26.
The menopause transition involves changes in oestrogens and adipose tissue distribution, which may influence female brain health post-menopause. Although increased central fat accumulation is linked to risk of cardiometabolic diseases, adipose tissue also serves as the primary biosynthesis site of oestrogens post-menopause. It is unclear whether different types of adipose tissue play diverging roles in female brain health post-menopause, and whether this depends on lifetime oestrogen exposure, which can have lasting effects on the brain and body even after menopause. Using the UK Biobank sample, we investigated associations between brain characteristics and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue (ASAT) in 10,251 post-menopausal females, and assessed whether the relationships varied depending on length of reproductive span (age at menarche to age at menopause). To parse the effects of common genetic variation, we computed polygenic scores for reproductive span. The results showed that higher VAT and ASAT were both associated with higher grey and white matter brain age, and greater white matter hyperintensity load. The associations varied positively with reproductive span, indicating more prominent associations between adipose tissue and brain measures in females with a longer reproductive span. The effects were in general small, but could not be fully explained by genetic variation or relevant confounders. Our findings indicate that associations between abdominal adipose tissue and brain health post-menopause may partly depend on individual differences in cumulative oestrogen exposure during reproductive years, emphasising the complexity of neural and endocrine ageing processes in females.
绝经过渡涉及雌激素和脂肪组织分布的变化，这可能会影响女性绝经后的大脑健康。虽然中心脂肪堆积增加与心血管代谢疾病的风险相关，但脂肪组织也是绝经后雌激素的主要生物合成部位。目前尚不清楚不同类型的脂肪组织在女性绝经后大脑健康中是否发挥不同的作用，以及这种作用是否取决于终生雌激素暴露，即使在绝经后，这种暴露也会对大脑和身体产生持久影响。本研究使用英国生物库样本，调查了 10251 名绝经后女性的大脑特征与内脏脂肪组织（VAT）和腹部皮下脂肪组织（ASAT）之间的关联，并评估了这些关系是否取决于生殖跨度的长短（初潮年龄到绝经年龄）。为了分析常见遗传变异的影响，我们计算了生殖跨度的多基因评分。结果表明，较高的 VAT 和 ASAT 均与较高的灰质和白质脑龄以及更大的白质高信号负荷相关。这些关联随生殖跨度呈正相关，表明在生殖跨度较长的女性中，脂肪组织与大脑指标之间的关联更为显著。这些影响通常较小，但不能完全用遗传变异或相关混杂因素来解释。本研究结果表明，绝经后腹部脂肪组织与大脑健康之间的关联可能部分取决于生殖期累积雌激素暴露的个体差异，这强调了女性神经和内分泌衰老过程的复杂性。
