(John Anderer/ Study Finds) — Far more women are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease than men. In fact, close to two-thirds of the over five million Americans living with the most common form of dementia are female. The reasons behind this gender disparity are still unknown, but one prominent theory states women exhibit significantly higher depositions of the tau protein in their brains.
Now, new research from Case Western Reserve University’s School of Medicine is lending further support to that theory. Scientists conclude that the female brain displays a higher expression of a certain enzyme compared to males, resulting in greater accumulation of the tau protein. They posit this discovery may help develop new medicines to treat dementia.
The tau protein causes the formation of toxic protein clumps found inside the brain nerve cells of Alzheimer’s disease patients. The enzyme in question, meanwhile, is called ubiquitin-specific peptidase 11 (USP11). This enzyme is also X-linked, which means it is found in genes on the X chromosome, one of the two sex chromosomes in each cell. (…)