A menopausa e o sistema imune

Fonte: http://www.menopausethyroid.com/

Colegas,

foi publicado na Nature Genetics estudo que identifica 13 locus gênicos associados ao aparecimento dos sinais da menopausa (Link para o artigo completo AQUI).

Para nós aqui do SBlogI, o interessante é que alguns desses genes são responsáveis por codificar proteínas relacionados ao sistema imunológico, incluíndo NF-kB e um receptor do tipo NOD (NLRP11).

A revista NewScientist dedicou algumas linhas ao trabalho. Segue abaixo a resenha original:


http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21384-immune-system-may-help-to-trigger-the-menopause.html

Immune system may help to trigger the menopause

• 12:35 24 January 2012 by Wendy Zukerman

The immune system may play a role in stopping a woman's biological clock.

John Perry at the University of Oxford and colleagues looked at 43 genomic studies of the menopause, covering more than 50,000 women. By comparing the age that menopause began, Perry's team identified 13 regions with possible links to menopause timing. Three of the regions were housed within genes associated with the immune system. Other regions occurred within genes that control gene repair, regulate hormones and trigger inflammation.

It's not yet clear whether the immune system is the main driver of the menopause or merely a backseat player to biological forces such ashormonal fluctuations. "This will become clearer when we have identified more of the genetic basis of menopause onset," says Perry. However, a genetic test to predict when menopause will begin is still a distant prospect.

The link between ovulation and the immune system isn't unexpected: some women with primary ovarian insufficiency, who undergo an unusually early menopause, have an autoimmune disease of the ovaries.