IMR Press / JIN / Volume 23 / Issue 4 / DOI: 10.31083/j.jin2304078
Open Access Original Research
Causal Relationship between Sex Hormones and Risk of Developing Common Neurodegenerative Diseases: A Mendelian Randomization Study
Show Less
1 Department of Neurology, The First People’s Hospital of Jinzhong, 030600 Jinzhong, Shanxi, China
2 Department of Endocrinology, The First People’s Hospital of Jinzhong, 030600 Jinzhong, Shanxi, China
3 Department of Neurology, First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, 030001 Taiyuan, Shanxi, China
*Correspondence: neuroguo@163.com (Jun-Hong Guo)
J. Integr. Neurosci. 2024, 23(4), 78; https://doi.org/10.31083/j.jin2304078
Submitted: 15 October 2023 | Revised: 28 November 2023 | Accepted: 13 December 2023 | Published: 12 April 2024
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pathogenesis of Neurodegeneration)
Copyright: © 2024 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press.
This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.
Abstract

Background: Neurodegenerative diseases are a group of unexplained disorders of the central nervous system, and studies have shown that a large number of genetic and environmental factors are associated with these diseases. Since these diseases show significant gender differences in epidemiology, sex hormones are thought to be strongly associated with these diseases. In this study, we used Mendelian randomization to explore the causal relationship between sex hormones and the risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases. Methods: We obtained genetic instrumental variables for sex hormones (sex hormone-binding globulin [SHBG], estradiol levels [EL], and bioavailable testosterone [BT]) separately through the Integrative Epidemiology Unit (IEU) database (https://gwas.mrcieu.ac.uk/). We analyzed the causal relationship of each with the risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis [ALS], Parkinson’s disease [PD], and Alzheimer’s disease [AD]) using inverse variance weighted (IVW) in Mendelian randomization. Data were then analyzed for sensitivity. Results: BT was negatively associated with the risk of developing ALS (odds ratio [OR] = 0.794; 95% confidence interval [95% CI] = 0.672–0.938; p = 0.006). EL and SHBG were not associated with a risk for developing neurodegenerative diseases (ALS, PD, AD). Conclusions: Elevated BT is associated with a reduced risk of developing ALS. Further research is needed to investigate the underlying mechanisms of action for this correlation and how it can be used as a potential target of action to reduce the risk of developing ALS.

Keywords
sex hormones
neurodegenerative diseases (NDs)
mendelian randomization (MR)
causal effect
Funding
2021ZD0201801/Science and Technology Innovation 2030 – Major program of “Brain Science and Brain-like Research”
Figures
Fig. 1.
Share
Back to top