Women Have Higher Tau, Especially in Setting of Elevated Aβ

WEDNESDAY, April 5, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Women have higher tau than men, especially those with elevated amyloidβ (Aβ), according to a study published online April 3 in JAMA Neurology.

Gillian T. Coughlan, Ph.D., from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and colleagues examined the extent to which sex, age at menopause, and hormone therapy use are associated with regional tau at a given level of Aβ measured with positron emission tomography (PET) in a cross-sectional study involving 292 cognitively unimpaired individuals (193 women and 99 men).

The researchers found that in individuals with elevated Aβ, female sex, earlier age at menopause, and hormone therapy use were associated with higher regional tau PET compared with male sex, later age at menopause, and hormone therapy nonuse (standardized β = −0.41, −0.38, and 0.31, respectively). Medial and lateral regions of the temporal and occipital lobes were included as affected regions. Compared with early initiation, late initiation of hormone therapy (more than five years following age at menopause) was associated with higher tau PET.

"Female individuals who experience younger age at menopause may represent a subgroup for priority inclusion in Alzheimer disease prevention trials," the authors write. "Clinical trials to assess the potential implications of hormone therapy timing on tau deposition are also warranted."

Several authors disclosed financial ties to the biopharmaceutical industry.

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