Biomedical Frontiers: Fall 1996, Vol.4, No.1
Alzheimer's Findings

Postmenopausal women who used estrogen for a year or more significantly delayed or decreased their risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, according to a new study from CPMC researchers. The study, published in Lancet, found that taking estrogen postmenopausally lowered a woman's risk of developing the disease by as much as 5 percent per year. The protective effects of estrogen held true even in the face of other risk factors, such as APOE genotype, education and socioeconomic levels, and family history.

The study's authors were Drs. Richard Mayeux, Ming Xin Tang, Diane Jacobs, Yaakov Stern, Karen Marder, Peter Schofield, Barry Gurland, and Howard Andrews.

In another study published in Nature, CPMC researchers identified a receptor on microglial cells that may cause neuronal damage in Alzheimer's disease. Authors Drs. Joseph El Khoury, John D. Loike, and Samuel C. Silverstein identified a scavenger receptor that binds to fibrillar beta amyloid protein and causes the microglial cells to produce chemicals destructive to the surrounding neurons. The finding may open the way for drug development to stop or slow the progression of the disease.