Study finds women’s brains deteriorate up to 20 times faster when dual proteins misfold
Women with Alzheimer’s who also harbour a Parkinson’s‑related protein can see disease‑related brain changes race ahead up to 20 times faster than in men with the same abnormalities, Mayo Clinic researchers report.
According to Reuters, that sex gap in progression “could help explain why Alzheimer's dementia often progresses faster in women” and “may lead to fresh avenues of research and future treatments.”
According to the Mayo Clinic News Network, a Mayo Clinic study in JAMA Network Open found that “Alzheimer's-related brain changes progressed up to 20 times faster in women who also had abnormal levels of a Parkinson's-related protein.”
The same pattern did not appear in men.
Alzheimer’s disease is marked by abnormal amounts of tau protein in the brain that disrupt communication between brain cells and contribute to cognitive decline, Reuters said.
Mayo Clinic News Network noted that many people along the Alzheimer’s disease continuum also develop abnormal clumping of α‑synuclein, “a protein associated with Lewy body diseases such as Parkinson's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies.”
Tau and α‑synuclein occur naturally, but in neurodegenerative diseases “these proteins can misfold and clump together, forming abnormal deposits” that disrupt brain function.
Researchers wanted to know whether having abnormal buildups of both proteins changes how the disease progresses, and whether that effect differs between women and men.
They analysed data from 415 participants in the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, a national consortium that tracks brain changes over time, according to the Mayo Clinic News Network.
Participants had cerebrospinal fluid testing to detect abnormal α‑synuclein and repeated brain imaging to measure changes in tau accumulation.
About 17 percent showed evidence of abnormal α‑synuclein, the outlet reported, a figure also cited by Reuters.
Among patients with Alzheimer's disease and elevated brain levels of both proteins, “brain changes occurred up to 20 times faster in women than in men.”
Mayo Clinic News Network reported that among those with both Alzheimer’s‑related pathology and α‑synuclein abnormalities, “women accumulated tau dramatically faster than men with the same coexisting protein changes.”
It added that this interaction “may drive faster disease progression in women.”
Study senior author Kejal Kantarci said in a statement quoted by Reuters, “When we see disease-related changes unfolding at dramatically different rates, we cannot keep approaching Alzheimer's as though it behaves exactly the same way in everyone.”
She also said, “Recognizing these sex-specific differences could help us design more targeted clinical trials and ultimately more personalized treatment strategies.”
Mayo Clinic News Network quoted her further: “Co-pathologies may impact the disease process.”
First author Elijah Mak told Reuters, “This opens an entirely new direction for understanding why women bear a disproportionate burden of dementia,” adding, “If we can unravel the mechanisms behind this vulnerability, we may uncover targets we haven't considered before.”
Mayo Clinic News Network said the team is now examining whether similar sex‑specific effects appear in dementia with Lewy bodies, where α‑synuclein is the primary disease driver.
