Women with Down syndrome show more advanced signs of Alzheimer’s disease than men at the same age of diagnosis, according to a study conducted by the University of California, Irvine. The research was published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association and received support from the National Institutes of Health.
“If women with Down syndrome are further along in disease progression at the time of diagnosis, it could change how we time interventions and interpret outcomes in clinical trials,” said corresponding author Elizabeth Head, UC Irvine professor of pathology. “This research could help tailor therapies more effectively, not just for people with Down syndrome, but for the broader Alzheimer’s population as well.”
The study focused on postmortem brain samples collected from the UC Irvine Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center Brain Tissue Repository and the NIH NeuroBioBank. Researchers measured levels of beta amyloid and phosphorylated tau—proteins associated with Alzheimer’s disease—and found that women had a higher burden than men, especially in the occipital lobe. This region is generally affected later in both Down syndrome-related and sporadic forms of Alzheimer’s disease.
Alzheimer’s is known to be the leading cause of death among individuals with Down syndrome, who are genetically predisposed to develop it earlier in life. Previous research noted that women may live longer with dementia than men within this group, but little work has been done to assess whether brain pathology differs between sexes.
“Understanding selective vulnerabilities within the brain and how these differ in women versus men will help us to better navigate treatment outcomes. We’re learning the importance of modifiable risk factors, which includes accounting for sex-specific risk,” said lead author Elizabeth Andrews, a Ph.D. candidate in Head’s lab group.
Researchers plan to continue examining whether differences between sexes extend to other forms of pathology like blood vessel integrity and white matter connectivity. They also aim to link these findings with biomarker data gathered during life to further advance personalized medicine strategies for Alzheimer’s care and prevention.
UC Irvine is engaged in its Brilliant Future campaign (https://brilliantfuture.uci.edu/uci-school-of-medicine), launched publicly on Oct. 4, 2019. The initiative seeks increased alumni engagement and philanthropic investment to support university goals across student success, health research, wellness initiatives and more.
Founded in 1965, UC Irvine is part of the Association of American Universities and consistently ranks among top public universities nationwide according to U.S. News & World Report (www.uci.edu). With over 36,000 students enrolled across 224 degree programs under Chancellor Howard Gillman’s leadership, UC Irvine contributes significantly to Orange County’s economy.
Media outlets interested in interviewing faculty or experts can access on-campus studio resources upon approval; additional media information is available at https://news.uci.edu/media-resources.
