Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36624497›Full record

ArticleAlzheimer's research & therapy2023

Hormone replacement therapy is associated with improved cognition and larger brain volumes in at-risk APOE4 women: results from the European Prevention of Alzheimer's Disease (EPAD) cohort.

Rasha N M Saleh, Michael Hornberger, Craig W Ritchie, Anne Marie Minihane

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Alzheimer's research & therapy, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 87 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
87citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
31.0field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

87 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 140 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Article
  4. Article
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  6. Article
  7. Review
  8. Menopausal insomnia as a modifiable node of dementia risk: Mechanistic insights and intervention strategies.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026
    Review
  9. Article
  10. Hormone replacement therapy and its association with LATE-NC in older adults.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026
    Article
  11. Article
  12. Evidence of APOE4-related brain vulnerabilities in verbal memory systems in midlife women.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026
    Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
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  18. Sex differences in neuromodulatory subcortical systems and their implications for Alzheimer's disease.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026
    Review
  19. Article
  20. Article

27 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Rasha N M SalehNorwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK. r.saleh@uea.ac.uk.
Michael HornbergerNorwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK.
Craig W RitchieCentre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
Anne Marie MinihaneNorwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK.
University of East Anglia · GBUniversity of Edinburgh · GB

Funding

Medical Research Council MR/T001852/1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe risk of dementia is higher in women than men. The metabolic consequences of estrogen decline during menopause accelerate neuropathology in women. The use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in the prevention of cognitive decline has shown conflicting results. Here we investigate the modulating role of APOE genotype and age at HRT initiation on the heterogeneity in cognitive response to HRT.

methodsThe analysis used baseline data from participants in the European Prevention of Alzheimer's Dementia (EPAD) cohort (total n= 1906, women= 1178, 61.8%). Analysis of covariate (ANCOVA) models were employed to test the independent and interactive impact of APOE genotype and HRT on select cognitive tests, such as MMSE, RBANS, dot counting, Four Mountain Test (FMT), and the supermarket trolley test (SMT), together with volumes of the medial temporal lobe (MTL) regions by MRI. Multiple linear regression models were used to examine the impact of age of HRT initiation according to APOE4 carrier status on these cognitive and MRI outcomes.

resultsAPOE4 HRT users had the highest RBANS delayed memory index score (P-APOE*HRT interaction = 0.009) compared to APOE4 non-users and to non-APOE4 carriers, with 6-10% larger entorhinal (left) and amygdala (right and left) volumes (P-interaction= 0.002, 0.003, and 0.005 respectively). Earlier introduction of HRT was associated with larger right (standardized β= -0.555, p=0.035) and left hippocampal volumes (standardized β= -0.577, p=0.028) only in APOE4 carriers.

conclusionHRT introduction is associated with improved delayed memory and larger entorhinal and amygdala volumes in APOE4 carriers only. This may represent an effective targeted strategy to mitigate the higher life-time risk of AD in this large at-risk population subgroup. Confirmation of findings in a fit for purpose RCT with prospective recruitment based on APOE genotype is needed to establish causality.

Indexed as

Alzheimer DiseaseApolipoprotein E4CognitionFemaleGenotypeHormone Replacement TherapyHumansProspective StudiesTemporal LobeApolipoprotein E4

Identifiers

PMID36624497
PMCPMC9830747
OpenAlexW4313828769

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.