Neuroscience and OBGYN Researchers Collaborate on Menopause Study

At Albany Medical Center, the region’s only academic medical center, research ideas and collaborative partnerships often originate from unexpected places.

When Kristen Zuloaga, PhD, professor in Albany Medical College’s Department of Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics, presented her work on menopause in mouse models to Obstetrics & Gynecology clinicians, she wasn’t looking for ideas for new avenues of study.

But then Cara Grimes, MD, vice chair of research in OBGYN, asked about the effects of low dose testosterone (T) therapy on these mouse models.

Clinical and Basic Science Collaboration

Physicians have generally been hesitant to prescribe T therapy to women because of the lack of data on its risks and benefits. But in the clinic, Dr. Grimes has seen a growing number of menopausal women who are trying it—often self-directed—in an effort to treat low libido, improve energy, and preserve muscle mass.

“Despite this rapid rise in off-label testosterone use, the effects of T therapy on the aging female brain and cerebral vasculature are almost completely unknown,” said Dr. Zuloaga, who also noted that historically, studies on testosterone and the brain have been conducted almost exclusively in males.

AHA-Supported Grant

With this information in hand and with Dr. Grimes serving as a consultant, Dr. Zuloaga applied for and received an Innovative Project Award (IPA) from the American Heart Association.

Titled “Rethinking Androgens: Influence of Testosterone on Menopausal Neurovascular Aging,” the two-year, $200,000 grant will allow Dr. Zuloaga and her team to investigate the impact of menopausal T therapy on cerebrovascular and overall brain health and function in both normal mice and a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease.
They’ll test the hypothesis that testosterone therapy during menopause modulates Alzheimer’s disease and vascular pathology—that is, disorders like atherosclerosis and peripheral artery disease that affect blood vessels that circulate blood throughout the body.

“Our findings will directly inform the safety and potential therapeutic consequences of the rapidly increasing and largely unregulated use of T therapy among menopausal women,” said Dr. Zuloaga.

Women’s Brain Health Research

In addition to their collaboration on the grant, Drs. Zuloaga and Grimes are also working with a team of medical students, physicians, and discovery scientists on a systematic review of the limited clinical data currently available regarding the risks and benefits of T therapy for women, which they expect to complete in the fall.

“We’re most interested in learning about testosterone therapy’s effects on memory, brain pathology, and brain blood vessels—all areas where there isn’t enough clinical information yet,” said Dr. Zuloaga.

By integrating endocrine biology, vascular pathology, and Alzheimer’s disease, she and her team hope to fill a critical translational gap in women’s brain health research.