Pilot Study - Reproductive Aging and the Human Hypothalamus

Rance, Naomi E.

Abstract

The loss of reproductive cyclicity in aging human females is characterized by a loss in ovarian function and a decline in estrogen and progesterone secretion. There is a corresponding rise in follicle- stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone in peripheral plasma, suggesting a release of the hypothalamic-pituitary axis from the inhibitory feedback effects of ovarian steroids. It is not known whether this rise in plasma gonadotropins is due to an increase in luteinizing hormone releasing hormone (LHRH) secretion from the hypothalamus or a change in anterior pituitary responsiveness to LHRH. We propose in Pilot 3 to map the distribution of neurons that contain LHRH mRNA in human female hypothalamus. We hope to correlate the dramatic changes in anterior pituitary hormone release in menopause to the levels of hypothalamic mRNA for LHRH. This investigation will lay the groundwork for studying the aging human hypothalamus by examining a well- characterized system with a dramatic functional alteration.

Funding Agency

• Agency: National Institute of Health (NIH)
• Institute: National Institute on Aging (NIA)
• Type: Specialized Center (P50)
• Project #: 5P50AG005146-08
• Application #: 3809233
• Support Year: 8
• Fiscal Year: 1990

Institution

• Name: Johns Hopkins University
• DUNS #: 045911138
• City: Baltimore
• State: MD
• Country: United States
• Zip Code: 21218

Publications

Bouhrara, Mustapha; Reiter, David A; Bergeron, Christopher M et al. (2018) Evidence of demyelination in mild cognitive impairment and dementia using a direct and specific magnetic resonance imaging measure of myelin content. Alzheimers Dement 14:998-1004

Xiong, Yulan; Neifert, Stewart; Karuppagounder, Senthilkumar S et al. (2018) Robust kinase- and age-dependent dopaminergic and norepinephrine neurodegeneration in LRRK2 G2019S transgenic mice. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 115:1635-1640

Nicolas, Aude (see original citation for additional authors) (2018) Genome-wide Analyses Identify KIF5A as a Novel ALS Gene. Neuron 97:1268-1283.e6

Wong, Dean F; Comley, Robert A; Kuwabara, Hiroto et al. (2018) Characterization of 3 Novel Tau Radiopharmaceuticals, 11C-RO-963, 11C-RO-643, and 18F-RO-948, in Healthy Controls and in Alzheimer Subjects. J Nucl Med 59:1869-1876

Kirson, Noam Y; Scott Andrews, J; Desai, Urvi et al. (2018) Patient Characteristics and Outcomes Associated with Receiving an Earlier Versus Later Diagnosis of Probable Alzheimer's Disease. J Alzheimers Dis 61:295-307

Varma, Vijay R; Oommen, Anup M; Varma, Sudhir et al. (2018) Brain and blood metabolite signatures of pathology and progression in Alzheimer disease: A targeted metabolomics study. PLoS Med 15:e1002482

Zhou, Zilu; Wang, Weixin; Wang, Li-San et al. (2018) Integrative DNA copy number detection and genotyping from sequencing and array-based platforms. Bioinformatics 34:2349-2355

Soldan, Anja; Pettigrew, Corinne; Albert, Marilyn (2018) Evaluating Cognitive Reserve Through the Prism of Preclinical Alzheimer Disease. Psychiatr Clin North Am 41:65-77

Guerreiro, Rita; Ross, Owen A; Kun-Rodrigues, Celia et al. (2018) Investigating the genetic architecture of dementia with Lewy bodies: a two-stage genome-wide association study. Lancet Neurol 17:64-74

Bermudez, Camilo; Plassard, Andrew J; Davis, Taylor L et al. (2018) Learning Implicit Brain MRI Manifolds with Deep Learning. Proc SPIE Int Soc Opt Eng 10574: