Adel Eman, Nicolas Maya
Department of Biotechnology, School of Science and Engineering, American University in Cairo, New Cairo 11835, Egypt.
Institute of Global Health and Human Ecology, School of Science and Engineering, American University in Cairo, AUC Avenue, New Cairo 11835, Egypt.
Life (Basel). 2024 Dec 16;14(12):1662. doi: 10.3390/life14121662.
Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second-leading cause of death among neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer's disease (AD), affecting around 2% of the population. It is expected that the incidence of PD will exceed 12 million by 2040. Meanwhile, there is a recognized difference in the phenotypical expression of the disease and response to treatment between men and women. Men have twice the incidence of PD compared to women, who have a late onset and worse prognosis that is usually associated with menopause. In addition, the incidence of PD in women is associated with the cumulative estrogen levels in their bodies. These differences are suggested to be due to the protective effect of estrogen on the brain, which cannot be given in clinical practice to improve the symptoms of the disease because of its peripheral side effects, causing cancer in both males and females in addition to the feminizing effect it has on males. As PD pathophysiology involves alteration in the expression levels of multiple LncRNAs, including metastatic-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 (MALAT1), and as estrogen has been illustrated to control the expression of MALAT1 in multiple conditions, it is worth investigating the estrogen-MALAT1 interaction in Parkinson's disease to mimic its protective effect on the brain while avoiding its peripheral side effects. The following literature review suggests the potential regulation of MALAT1 by estrogen in PD, which would enhance our understanding of the pathophysiology of the disease, improving the development of more tailored and effective treatments.
帕金森病（PD）是仅次于阿尔茨海默病（AD）的第二大神经退行性疾病致死原因，影响着约2%的人口。预计到2040年，PD的发病率将超过1200万。同时，该疾病的表型表达以及男性和女性对治疗的反应存在公认的差异。男性患PD的发病率是女性的两倍，女性发病较晚且预后较差，这通常与绝经有关。此外，女性PD的发病率与体内雌激素的累积水平有关。这些差异被认为是由于雌激素对大脑的保护作用，然而由于其外周副作用，在临床实践中不能给予雌激素来改善疾病症状，因为它除了对男性有女性化作用外，还会导致男性和女性患癌症。由于PD的病理生理学涉及多种长链非编码RNA（LncRNAs）表达水平的改变，包括转移相关肺腺癌转录本1（MALAT1），并且雌激素已被证明在多种情况下可控制MALAT1的表达，因此有必要研究帕金森病中雌激素与MALAT1的相互作用，以模拟其对大脑的保护作用，同时避免其外周副作用。以下文献综述表明雌激素在PD中对MALAT1可能存在调控作用，这将增进我们对该疾病病理生理学的理解，推动更具针对性和有效性的治疗方法的开发。
