Studies provide clues as to why psychiatric drugs work differently for women

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Has been updated: February 1, 2021 22:07 IS

Colorado [USA], February 1st (ANI): New research, medicine maletal-illness “>maleTal’s disease works differently male And male“> 2maleAnd why do these individual differences exist?An important protein in the brain called AKT Men and women may have different functions.
The results of the University of Colorado Boulder study were published in the journal eLIfe.
When it comes to developing medicine for maletal-illness “>maleTal’s illness has three confounding challenges.
With men male“> 2male Depression and anxiety are much more common in women.
Drugs that work for one person may not work for another and have many side effects.
The study also explores exactly where the problem can occur in the brain and points to an important step towards a more targeted and less harmful treatment.
“The ultimate goal is to find the kinks in your armor. maletal-illness “>maleTal disease-a protein in the brain that can be specifically targeted without affecting other organs or causing side effects, “said Charles Heffer, an assistant professor of integrated physiology at the Institute of Behavioral Genetics. Stated.We have to stop hitting everything maletal-illness “>maleYou will get sick with the same hammer. “
Discovered in the 1970s, it is best known for its role in causing cancer when mutated. AKT Recently, it has been confirmed that it plays an important role in promoting “synaptic plasticity”.It is the ability of the brain to strengthen the connections between Neuron Depending on experience.
“Let’s say you’re scared to see a shark and your brain wants to make a memory. You have to make a new protein to encode that memory,” Hoeffer explains.
AKT Is one of the first proteins to come online and is raising the gear of numerous downstream proteins in its memory factory. Without it, researchers believe that new memories cannot be learned or old memories cannot be erased to create a place for new, less harmful memories.
In previous studies AKT Genes in many problems, from schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress disorders to autism and Alzheimer’s disease.

But not all, as Hoeffer’s previous research found. AKTs are created equally:
Different flavors, or isoforms, perform different functions in the brain. For example AKTFound only in star-shaped brain cells called astroglia, 2 is often associated with brain tumors.
AKT3 seems to be important for brain growth and developmentmalet.And AKT1, in combination with AKT2 In the prefrontal cortex of the brain, it appears to be important for learning and memory.
“These subtle differences can be very important if you want to personalize your treat.male“Ts for people,” explains Marissa Ehringer, an associate professor of integrated physiology who has partnered with Hoeffer in several studies.
In the three years of creation, research adds important new wrinkles to the story. How mice of different genders responded to the loss of different animals, following the guidelines of the National Institutes of Health, which began requiring researchers to include both male and female animals in their studies over the past six years. I investigated in detail. AKT Isoform.
“We found that the difference between men and women was so great that it became the focus of our work,” says Hoeffer. “It was like day and night.”
For example, that male mouse AKT1 was functioning normally and was far superior to the protein-deficient one when it came to “erasing learning”. Replacing old memories and relationships is no longer useful. (Imagine letting go of your favorite return trip memories from work because you moved loud noises or disassociated them from danger).
For female mice, it didn’t make much difference.
Much more research is needed and underway, but Hoeffer believes that many other important proteins in the brain share similar nuances-different flavors serve different purposes. , Has different effects male And male“> 2male..
1 in 5 adults in the United States maletal-illness “>maleWith Tal disease male“> 2male 4 times more likely to experience maletal-illness “>maleTheir lifelong illness, he hopes he can move the dial towards better, safer treatment by unraveling all those nuances.malets.
“To help more people suffer maletal-illness “>maleWe need more knowledge about the differences between male and female brains and how to treat them differently. This study is an important step in that direction. (ANI)