Immune differences between men and women that link heart and metabolic health to Alzheimer's risk
Impact of sex differences in immune function on shared risk for cardiometabolic disorder & Alzheimer's disease
This project looks at whether immune differences between men and women help explain how conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes raise Alzheimer’s risk in people aged 50–75.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Massachusetts General Hospital NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Boston, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11145192 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
If you join, researchers will enroll about 240 people aged 50–75, half men and half women, who are either at high or low Alzheimer’s risk based on genetics and cardiometabolic health. You would have clinic visits with MRI scans, cognitive testing, heart and blood-vessel measures, hormone and immune blood tests, genotyping, amyloid PET imaging, and lab studies of immune cells. The team will compare men and women and people with and without cardiometabolic disease to find immune patterns linked to brain changes and Alzheimer biomarkers. Some participants are being re-recruited from an earlier group so the study can also examine changes over time.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates are adults about 50–75 years old, both women and men, who either have cardiometabolic conditions (like hypertension or diabetes) or are classified as low genetic and cardiometabolic risk and who can complete imaging and blood draws.
Not a fit: People under 50, those unwilling to undergo imaging or blood tests, or those who do not fit the study's defined high- or low-risk categories are unlikely to be eligible or benefit directly from this research.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the work could guide sex-specific prevention or early-detection approaches to lower Alzheimer’s risk in people with cardiometabolic disease.
How similar studies have performed: Previous work has linked cardiometabolic health and immune changes to Alzheimer’s risk, but combining sex-specific genetic risk scores with detailed imaging and immune cell profiling in midlife is a newer and less-tested approach.
Where this research is happening
Boston, United States
- Massachusetts General Hospital — Boston, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Goldstein, Jill M — Massachusetts General Hospital
- Study coordinator: Goldstein, Jill M
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.