The Harvard study found that Tau protein affects cognitive function differently between men and women

There is growing evidence that women exhibit higher tau burden levels than men, especially in those with a genetic risk of exudable Alzheimer's disease (e.g., carriers of lipoprotein s4) or β-amyloid protein (A-beta) burden levels.
levels of total tau and phosphate tau (p-tau) in CSF were higher in female carriers of APOE4 throughout the cognitive impairment spectrum, including those with normal clinical manifestations.
results also showed that women had more tau tangles than men, as evidenced by a recent meta-analysis of autopsy samples from multiple queues.
the results of the in vivo study in the body are consistent, this approach does not provide specific information about the brain region specificity of the tau burden.
, there have been few reports of results from tau-positive electron emission fault scanning (PET) to explore the gender differences in the distribution of tau signal brains.
previously found that clinically normal older women had higher global A-beta levels and higher levels of the inner olfactory cortical region (entorhinal) than men.
, however, these findings are limited to pre-assumed areas of interest (ROI), but it remains unclear whether tau-PET has a broader distribution of gender-related regions throughout the brain.
other studies have reported gender differences in regional tau-PET, but only in the context of glucose metabolism or APOE4 status.
, studies are scarce and do not address the gender differences in the spatial distribution of tau throughout the brain.
, it remains unclear how gender participation in tau-PET affects cognitive decline.
, Rachel F. Buckley of Harvard University and others looked at the gender differences in the distribution of tau in the brain in older adults and investigated how these differences were associated with cognitive function.
they included 343 clinically normal-performing people (58 percent of women) and 55 people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI; 38 percent of women) from the Harvard Aging Brain Study and the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Program.
in 41 areas of interest (ROIs) between the cortical and sub cortical corticals, the tau protein is quantified by a signal of 18F-fluorouracil (FTP)-positive electron emission fault scanning (PET).
first analyzes the effect of gender on each ROI's tau signal, and explores the interaction between gender's tau signal and cognitive decline of different ROI with a linear hybrid model.
showed that women had significantly higher levels of tau protein than men in multiple cortical regions.
In addition, the gender differences in tau signals (sex-A beta-PET) that interact with β amyloid proteins (A-beta) were concentrated in the inner and inner temporal regions (P -lt;0.007);
differences in tau signals mediated by APOE4 were found only outside the pillow leaves.
ROI, women with higher tau signals showed faster cognitive decline than men (P s 0.04).
significance of this study is the discovery that women's Tau susceptibleness is not limited to the inside of the temporal lobe, but significantly leads to a significant risk of faster cognitive decline.
effects of gender and beta A are concentrated in the temporal lobes, however, the gender differences in tau outside the temporal lobe highlight the likelihood of tau increasing when clinical symptoms occur in women.
origin: Buckley, RF, Scott, MR, Jacobs, HI, Schultz, AP, Properzi, MJ, Amariglio, RE, ... & Sperling, RA (2020). Sex mediates relationships between regional tau pathology and cognitive decline. Annals of Neurology , 88 (5), 921-932.<!--5f39ae17-8c62-4a45-bc43-b32064c9388a: W3siYmxvY2tJZCI6IjQxMzAtMTYxMDQ4NTcyNjczMSIsImJsb2NrVHlwZSI6InBhcmFncmFwaCIsInN0eWxlcyI6eyJhbGlnbiI6ImxlZnQiLCJpbmRlbnQiOjAsInRleHQtaW5kZW50IjowLCJsaW5lLWhlaWdodCI6MS43NSwiYmFjay1jb2xvciI6IiIsInBhZGRpbmciOiIifSwidHlwZSI6InBhcmFncmFwaCIsInJpY2hUZXh0Ijp7ImRhdGEiOlt7ImNoYXIiOiLlk4giLCJzdHlsZXMiOnsiYmFjay1jb2xvciI6IiNmZmZmZmYifX0seyJjaGFyIjoi5L2bIiwic3R5bGVzIjp7ImJhY2stY29sb3IiOiIjZmZmZmZmIn19LHsiY2hhciI6IuWkpyIsInN0e WxlcyI6eyJiYWNrLWNvbG9yIjoiI2ZmZmZmZiJ9fSx7ImNoYXIiOiLlraYiLCJzdHlsZXMiOnsiYmFjay1jb2xvciI6IiNmZmZmZmYifX0seyJjaGFyIjoi56CUIiwic3R5bGVzIjp7ImJhY2stY29sb3IiOiIjZmZmZmZmIn19LHsiY2hhciI6IueptiIsInN0eWxlcyI6eyJiYWNrLWNvbG9yIjoiI2ZmZmZmZiJ9fSx7ImNoYXIiOiLlj5EiLCJzdHlsZXMiOnsiYmFjay1jb2xvciI6IiNmZmZmZmYifX0seyJjaGFyIjoi546wIiwic3R5bGVzIjp7ImJhY2stY29sb3IiOiIjZmZmZmZmIn19LHsiY2hhciI6Iu +8miIsInN0eWxlcyI6eyJiYWNrLWNvbG9yIjoiI2ZmZmZmZiJ9fSx7ImNoYXIiOiJUIiwic3R5bGVzIjp7ImJhY2stY29sb3IiOiIjZmZmZmZmIn19LHsiY2hhciI6ImEiLCJzdHlsZXMiOnsiYmFjay1jb2xvciI6IiNmZmZmZmYifX0seyJjaGFyIjoidSIsInN0eWxlcyI6eyJiYWNrLWNvbG9yIjoiI2ZmZmZmZiJ9fSx7ImNoYXIiOiLom4siLCJzdHlsZXMiOnsiYmFjay1jb2xvciI6IiNmZmZmZmYifX0seyJjaGFyIjoi55m9Iiwic3R5bGVzIjp7ImJhY2stY29sb3IiOiIjZmZmZmZmIn19LHsiY2hhciI6IuWvuSIsInN0eWxlcyI6eyJiYWNrLWNvbG9 yIjoiI2ZmZmZmZiJ9fSx7ImNoYXIiOiLorqQiLCJzdHlsZXMiOnsiYmFjay1jb2xvciI6IiNmZmZmZmYifX0seyJjaGFyIjoi55+ lIiwic3R5bGVzIjp7ImJhY2stY29sb3IiOiIjZmZmZmZmIn19LHsiY2hhciI6IuWKnyIsInN0eWxlcyI6eyJiYWNrLWNvbG9yIjoiI2ZmZmZmZiJ9fSx7ImNoYXIiOiLog70iLCJzdHlsZXMiOnsiYmFjay1jb2xvciI6IiNmZmZmZmYifX0seyJjaGFyIjoi5b2xIiwic3R5bGVzIjp7ImJhY2stY29sb3IiOiIjZmZmZmZmIn19LHsiY2hhciI6IuWTjSIsInN0eWxlcyI6eyJiYWNrLWNvbG9yIjoiI2ZmZmZmZiJ9fSx7ImNoYXIiOiLvvIwiLCJzdHlsZXMiOnsiYmFjay1jb2xvciI6IiNmZmZmZmYifX0seyJjaGFyIjoi55S3Iiwic3R5bGVzIjp7ImJhY2st Y29sb3IiOiIjZmZmZmZmIn19LHsiY2hhciI6IuWlsyIsInN0eWxlcyI6eyJiYWNrLWNvbG9yIjoiI2ZmZmZmZiJ9fSx7ImNoYXIiOiLmnIkiLCJzdHlsZXMiOnsiYmFjay1jb2xvciI6IiNmZmZmZmYifX0seyJjaGFyIjoi5YirIiwic3R5bGVzIjp7ImJhY2stY29sb3IiOiIjZmZmZmZmIn19XSwiaXNSaWNoVGV4dCI6dHJ1ZSwia2VlcExpbmVCcmVhayI6dHJ1ZX19LHsiYmxvY2tJZCI6IjEwODItMTYxMDQ4NzE0OTA1OSIsImJsb2NrVHlwZSI6InBhcmFncmFwaCIsInN0eWxlcyI6eyJhbGlnbiI6ImxlZnQiLCJpbmRlbnQiOjAsInRleHQtaW5kZW50I jowLCJsaW5lLWhlaWdodCI6MS43NSwiYmFjay1jb2xvciI6IiIsInBhZGRpbmciOiIifSwidHlwZSI6InBhcmFncmFwaCIsInJpY2hUZXh0Ijp7ImRhdGEiOlt7ImNoYXIiOiLCoCIsInN0eWxlcyI6eyJiYWNrLWNvbG9yIjoiI2ZmZmZmZiJ9fV0sImlzUmljaFRleHQiOnRydWUsImtlZXBMaW5lQnJlYWsiOnRydWV9fSx7ImJsb2NrSWQiOiI2MDIwLTE2MTA0ODcxNDc1OTIiLCJibG9ja1R5cGUiOiJwYXJhZ3JhcGgiLCJzdHlsZXMiOnsiYWxpZ24iOiJsZWZ0IiwiaW5kZW50IjowLCJ0ZXh0LWluZGVudCI6MCwibGluZS1oZWlnaHQiOjEuNzUsImJhY2 stY29sb3IiOiIiLCJwYWRkaW5nIjoiIn0sInR5cGUiOiJwYXJhZ3JhcGgiLCJyaWNoVGV4dCI6eyJkYXRhIjpbeyJjaGFyIjoi6LaKIn0seyJjaGFyIjoi5p2lIn0seyJjaGFyIjoi6LaKIn0seyJjaGFyIjoi5aSaIn0seyJjaGFyIjoi55qEIn0seyJjaGFyIjoi6K+ BIn0seyJjaGFyIjoi5o2uIn0seyJjaGFyIjoi6KGoIn0seyJjaGFyIjoi5piOIn0seyJjaGFyIjoi77yMIn0seyJjaGFyIjoi5aWzIn0seyJjaGFyIjoi5oCnIn0seyJjaGFyIjoi5q+ UIn0seyJjaGFyIjoi55S3In0seyJjaGFyIjoi5oCnIn0seyJjaGFyIjoi6KGoIn0seyJjaGFyIjoi546wIn0seyJjaGFyIjoi5Ye6In0seyJjaGFyIjoi5pu0In0seyJjaGFyIjoi6auYIn0seyJjaGFyIjoi55qEIn0seyJjaGFyIjoidCJ9LHsiY2hhciI6ImEifSx7ImNoYXIiOiJ1In0seyJjaGFyIjoi6LSfIn0seyJjaGFyIjoi5ouFIn0seyJjaGFyIjoi5rC0In0seyJjaGFyIjoi5bmzIn0seyJjaGFyIjoi77ybIn0seyJjaGFyIjoi6L+ ZIn0seyJjaGFyIjoi5ZyoIn0seyJjaGFyIjoi6YKjIn0seyJjaGF