Estrogens, inflammation and cognition

April Au; Anita Feher; Lucy McPhee; Ailya Jessa; Soojin Oh; Gillian Einstein

doi:10.1016/j.yfrne.2016.01.002

Estrogens, inflammation and cognition

Front Neuroendocrinol. 2016 Jan:40:87-100. doi: 10.1016/j.yfrne.2016.01.002. Epub 2016 Jan 12.

Authors

April Au¹, Anita Feher², Lucy McPhee³, Ailya Jessa⁴, Soojin Oh⁵, Gillian Einstein⁶

Affiliations

¹ University of Toronto, 100 St. George Street, 4F Sidney Smith Hall, Dept. of Psychology, Toronto, ON M5S 3G3, Canada. Electronic address: april.au@mail.utoronto.ca.
² University of Toronto, 100 St. George Street, 4F Sidney Smith Hall, Dept. of Psychology, Toronto, ON M5S 3G3, Canada. Electronic address: afeher2@uwo.ca.
³ University of Toronto, 100 St. George Street, 4F Sidney Smith Hall, Dept. of Psychology, Toronto, ON M5S 3G3, Canada. Electronic address: lucy.mcphee@mail.utoronto.ca.
⁴ University of Toronto, 100 St. George Street, 4F Sidney Smith Hall, Dept. of Psychology, Toronto, ON M5S 3G3, Canada. Electronic address: ailya.jessa@mail.utoronto.ca.
⁵ University of Toronto, 100 St. George Street, 4F Sidney Smith Hall, Dept. of Psychology, Toronto, ON M5S 3G3, Canada. Electronic address: soojin.oh@mail.utoronto.ca.
⁶ University of Toronto, 100 St. George Street, 4F Sidney Smith Hall, Dept. of Psychology, Toronto, ON M5S 3G3, Canada. Electronic address: gillian.einstein@utoronto.ca.

PMID: 26774208
DOI: 10.1016/j.yfrne.2016.01.002

Abstract

The effects of estrogens are pleiotropic, affecting multiple bodily systems. Changes from the body's natural fluctuating levels of estrogens, through surgical removal of the ovaries, natural menopause, or the administration of exogenous estrogens to menopausal women have been independently linked to an altered immune profile, and changes to cognitive processes. Here, we propose that inflammation may mediate the relationship between low levels of estrogens and cognitive decline. In order to determine what is known about this connection, we review the literature on the cognitive effects of decreased estrogens due to oophorectomy or natural menopause, decreased estrogens' role on inflammation--both peripherally and in the brain--and the relationship between inflammation and cognition. While this review demonstrates that much is unknown about the intersection between estrogens, cognition, inflammation, we propose that there is an important interaction between these literatures.

Keywords: Cognition; Dementia; Estrogens; Hormone therapy; Inflammation; Neuroinflammation.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Brain / metabolism*
Cognition / physiology*
Estrogens / metabolism*
Humans
Inflammation / metabolism*
Memory / physiology*
Menopause / physiology

Substances

Estrogens

Grants and funding

Canadian Institutes of Health Research/Canada