Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
Department of Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
Alzheimers Dement. 2024 Sep;20(9):6161-6169. doi: 10.1002/alz.14093. Epub 2024 Jul 1.
Although reproductive hormones are implicated in cerebral small vessel disease in women, few studies consider measured hormones in relation to white matter hyperintensity volume (WMHV), a key indicator of cerebral small vessel disease. Even fewer studies consider estrone (E1), the primary postmenopausal estrogen, or follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), an indicator of ovarian age. We tested associations of estradiol (E2), E1, and FSH to WMHV among women.
Two hundred twenty-two women (mean age = 59) underwent hormone assays (E1, E2, FSH) and 3T brain magnetic resonance imaging. Associations of hormones to WMHV were tested with linear regression.
Higher E2 (B[standard error (SE)] = -0.17[0.06], P = 0.008) and E1 (B[SE] = -0.26[0.10], P = 0.007) were associated with lower whole-brain WMHV, and higher FSH (B[SE] = 0.26[0.07], P = 0.0005) with greater WMHV (covariates age, race, education). When additionally controlling for cardiovascular disease risk factors, associations of E1 and FSH to WMHV remained.
Reproductive hormones, particularly E1 and FSH, are important to women's cerebrovascular health.
Despite widespread belief that sex hormones are important to women's brain health, little work has considered how these hormones in women relate to white matter hyperintensities (WMH), a major indicator of cerebral small vessel disease. We considered relations of estradiol (E2), estrone (E1), and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) to WMH in midlife women. Higher E2 and E1 were associated with lower whole-brain WMH volume (WMHV), and higher FSH with higher whole-brain WMHV. Associations of E1 and FSH, but not E2, to WMHV persisted with adjustment for cardiovascular disease risk factors. Findings underscore the importance of E2 and FSH to women's cerebrovascular health.
尽管生殖激素与女性大脑小血管疾病有关，但很少有研究考虑与脑小血管疾病关键指标——脑白质高信号体积（WMHV）相关的测量激素。考虑雌酮（E1）和卵泡刺激素（FSH）（卵巢年龄的指标）的研究就更少了。我们测试了雌二醇（E2）、E1 和 FSH 与女性 WMHV 的关系。
222 名女性（平均年龄 59 岁）接受了激素检测（E1、E2、FSH）和 3T 脑部磁共振成像。用线性回归测试激素与 WMHV 的关系。
较高的 E2（B[标准误差（SE）] = -0.17[0.06]，P = 0.008）和 E1（B[SE] = -0.26[0.10]，P = 0.007）与全脑 WMHV 较低相关，而较高的 FSH（B[SE] = 0.26[0.07]，P = 0.0005）与 WMHV 较大相关（协变量为年龄、种族、教育）。当进一步控制心血管疾病危险因素时，E1 和 FSH 与 WMHV 的关联仍然存在。
生殖激素，特别是 E1 和 FSH，对女性的脑血管健康很重要。
尽管普遍认为性激素对女性的大脑健康很重要，但很少有研究考虑这些女性激素与脑白质高信号（WMH）的关系，WMH 是脑小血管疾病的主要指标。我们考虑了雌二醇（E2）、雌酮（E1）和卵泡刺激素（FSH）与中年女性 WMH 的关系。较高的 E2 和 E1 与全脑 WMHV 较低相关，而较高的 FSH 与全脑 WMHV 较高相关。在调整心血管疾病危险因素后，E1 和 FSH 与 WMHV 的关联仍然存在，但 E2 与 WMHV 无关。研究结果强调了 E2 和 FSH 对女性脑血管健康的重要性。
