Associations between hormone therapy use and tau accumulation in brain regions vulnerable to Alzheimer's disease

Sci Adv. 2025 Mar 7;11(10):eadt1288. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adt1288. Epub 2025 Mar 5.

Abstract

Elucidating the downstream impact of exogenous hormones on the aging brain will have far-reaching consequences for understanding why Alzheimer's disease (AD) predominates in women almost twofold over men. We tested the extent to which menopausal hormone therapy (HT) use is associated with later-life amyloid-β (Aβ) and tau accumulation using PET on N = 146 baseline clinically normal women, aged 51 to 89 years. Women were scanned over a 4.5-year (SD, 2.1; range, 1.3 to 10.4) and 3.5-year (SD, 1.5; range, 1.2 to 8.1) period for Aβ and tau, respectively, ~14 years after the initiation of HT. In older women (aged >70 years), HT users exhibited faster regional tau accumulation relative to non-users, localized to the entorhinal cortex and the inferior temporal and fusiform gyri, with an indirect effect of HT on cognitive decline through regional tau accumulation. In younger women (aged <70 years), HT associations with tau accumulation were negligible. Findings are relevant for optimizing menopausal treatment guidelines.

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Alzheimer Disease* / diagnostic imaging
  • Alzheimer Disease* / etiology
  • Alzheimer Disease* / metabolism
  • Alzheimer Disease* / pathology
  • Amyloid beta-Peptides / metabolism
  • Brain* / diagnostic imaging
  • Brain* / drug effects
  • Brain* / metabolism
  • Estrogen Replacement Therapy* / adverse effects
  • Female
  • Hormone Replacement Therapy* / adverse effects
  • Humans
  • Middle Aged
  • Positron-Emission Tomography
  • tau Proteins* / metabolism

Substances

  • tau Proteins
  • Amyloid beta-Peptides