J Korean Geriatr Psychiatry.  2020 Oct;24(2):99-102. 10.47825/jkgp.2020.24.2.99.

Effect of Fetal Sex Hormone on the Development of Alzheimer’s Disease in Woman: A Cross-Sectional Study Using 2D/4D Digit Length Ratio

• Kang TU
• Lee YM
• Park JM
• Lee BD
• Moon Es
• Jeong HJ
• Kim SY
• Lee KY
• Suh Hg
• Chung YI

• KMID: 2508441
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.47825/jkgp.2020.24.2.99

Abstract

Objective
The purpose of this study is to investigate an association between sex-hormone exposure during fetal period and the development of Alzheimer’s disease (AD).
Methods
Twenty four AD patients and 25 normal controls were included from Memory Impairment Clinic of Pusan National University Hospital in Korea. Subjects are measured the ratio of the length of the second to the fourth digit (2D/4D) to estimate fetal sex-hormone exposure. Analysis of covariance was used to investigate an association between fetal sex-hormone exposure and the development of AD after adjusting age, education level, Korean Mini-Mental Status Examination and head circumference.
Results
We found that the females with AD had significantly lower 2D/4D ratios than the female controls. In the females with AD, the 2D/4D ratios in the left hand was 0.021 and 0.017 in the right hand compared with the controls.
Conclusion
Our findings suggest that the development of AD in female may be related with higher testosterone and lower es-trogen exposure during fetal period.

Keyword

Alzheimer’s disease; Fetal sex hormone; 2D/4D ratios