Oestrogen alpha-receptor variant and two-year memory decline in midlife Australian women

To prospectively examine the influence of the oestrogen-α receptor (ESR1)PvuII polymorphism on changes in memory performance over a 2-year period among 80 midlife postmenopausal Australian women.

Healthy women aged 56-67 years were administered a battery of four memory (verbal and non-verbal) tasks at baseline and 2 years later.

Carriers of the ESR1 p allele had significantly greater declines in logical memory compared to participants with the PP genotype, independent of demographic characteristics (e.g. age), chronic illness (e.g. hypertension), sleep aid usage, hormone levels, apolipoprotein E e4 status and prospective changes in mood, smoking and alcohol consumption.

These findings provide preliminary evidence for larger and longer prospective trials that will be able to determine if the p allele of the ESR1PvuII polymorphism is a potential biomarker of logical memory decline among aging women.