Biological sex and sex hormones in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias: From cells to patients

Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias arise from interacting genetic, biological, environmental, and clinical factors. Increasing evidence suggests that biological sex and sex-related factors may influence disease risk, age at onset, progression, clinical presentation, neuroinflammation, neurodegeneration, and treatment response. However, sex remains inconsistently incorporated into dementia research, and the contributions of sex hormones, reproductive history, menopause, hormone therapy, sex chromosomes, and sex-related genetic factors remain incompletely understood. Important gaps also persist in translating findings from experimental models into explanations for differences observed in people living with dementia, particularly across disease stages and in relation to treatment outcomes.This Research Topic aims to advance understanding of how biological sex and sex hormones contribute to the development, progression, mechanisms, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. It will address how sex- and hormone-dependent processes influence disease biology across experimental, translational, clinical, and population-based settings, and how these findings can improve research design and patient care. We welcome studies of Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies, frontotemporal dementia, and other related dementias when they directly examine sex- or hormone-related mechanisms, differences, or treatment effects. Human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived models, including neurons, astrocytes, microglia, oligodendrocytes, co-cultures, organoids, and assembloids, are particularly encouraged as tools for investigating sex- and hormone-dependent effects in human neural systems, but are not required.To gather further insights across the biological, clinical, and translational dimensions of sex-related mechanisms in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, we welcome original research, reviews, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, methods papers, and perspectives addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:- Effects of biological sex and sex hormones on dementia risk, age at onset, progression, and clinical presentation- Sex hormone signaling, hormone exposure, menopause, reproductive factors, hormone therapy, and hormone-related life stages- Human iPSC-derived neural models for studying sex- and hormone-dependent mechanisms- Effects of sex and hormones on amyloid-β, tau, synaptic function, neuroinflammation, metabolism, cellular stress, mitochondrial function, and neuronal vulnerability- Sex differences in genetics, epigenetics, sex chromosomes, APOE genotype, and other molecular pathways- Sex-aware blood, cerebrospinal fluid, imaging, digital, and other biomarkers- Clinical and epidemiological studies of sex differences in diagnosis, cognitive decline, caregiving needs, treatment response, and adverse effects- Animal and other experimental models of sex- and hormone-related mechanisms or therapeutic responses- Sex-specific or hormone-dependent effects of pharmacological, lifestyle, and other interventions- Experimental design, statistical analysis, reporting, and reproducibility approaches for incorporating sex as a biological variable- Comparative studies integrating cellular, animal, clinical, imaging, genetic, and population-level evidence- Knowledge gaps, methodological challenges, and priorities for sex-informed dementia researchStudies that address Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias without examining sex, sex-related factors, or hormone-dependent mechanisms fall outside the scope of this Research Topic.Topic Editor Dr. Supakul receives research grants from Rikaken Holdings Co. Ltd. Topic editors: Sopak Supakul, Nicolas Leventoux, Charly Abi Ghanem Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/79773/biological-sex-and-sex-hormones-in-alzheimers-disease-and-related-dementias-from-cells-to-patients