Blood proteins at menopause may flag later brain aging
During the menopausal transition, sixteen proteins in the blood shift in ways that are linked to brain health later in life. These proteins are involved in inflammation, metabolism, and processes associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
Menopause is widely known as the end of the reproductive years. But researchers increasingly see it as a critical window for brain health. Women more often report difficulties with word-finding and attention during the transition. Until now, the molecular changes underlying these difficulties have been poorly understood.
Sixteen proteins as potential signals
Researchers compared blood samples from women before, during, and after the menopausal transition. They measured thousands of proteins in the blood using a technique called proteomics, the large-scale measurement of proteins in a biological sample. Sixteen proteins were elevated in postmenopausal women compared to premenopausal women.
These sixteen proteins are involved in processes also implicated in Alzheimer’s disease, including inflammation, synaptic function (the connections between nerve cells), and metabolism. The majority of the changed proteins were inflammatory, consistent with prior research showing increased systemic inflammation after menopause.
The researchers validated their findings in a much larger second cohort of nearly three thousand women from the UK Biobank. Thirteen of the sixteen proteins showed comparable patterns there as well.
A window for intervention
Researchers at UCSF describe midlife as a period when the brain can be set on a more resilient or more vulnerable trajectory toward dementia. For women, the menopausal transition may represent a particularly important moment to intervene, though which interventions are most effective has not been established.
The study is observational: an association was found, not evidence of causation. The initial discovery cohort was also small, with eighty women. Larger follow-up studies examining long-term cognitive outcomes are needed.
From a longevity-science perspective, the finding suggests that blood proteins around menopause might eventually serve as early markers for brain aging risk, though that application has not yet been demonstrated.
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