Closing the sex/gender gap in dementia: homing in on the vasculature (animal models)

Abstract

AbstractFemales are more at risk of Alzheimer’s disease compared to males. The deposition of amyloid‐beta in the extracellular spaces of the brain as plaques and as cerebral amyloid angiopathy is more frequent in females. It is only in the recent years that experimental work on mice has embraced resting hypotheses in both sexes. Results show that cerebral microbleeds, spatial working memory and fear conditioning are more frequent in old Tg‐SwDI females compared to males (Michael E. Maniskas et al). While the rodent vasculature does not develop arteriolosclerosis with ageing as human vasculature does, the administration of a high fat diet to adult wild‐type mice impaired the spatial memory in females only and experimental hypoperfusion reduced cerebral blood flow mostly in females (Abigail E Salinero). Failure of clearance of fluids and solutes such as Abeta from the brain along Intramural Periarterial Drainage Pathways (IPAD) is a key pathogenic factor in CAA. All future experimental studies should include both sexes when analysing the clearance and other mechanisms that underlie the pathogenesis of ADRD and CAA.