Drug discovery: estrogen-related compounds in mouse models of Alzheimer's disease

Despite promising epidemiological studies that showed a decreased incidence of Alzheimer disease (AD) in women who used hormone replacement therapy (HRT), the results of the recently released Women's Health Initiative Memory Study has dampened any enthusiasm for the use of HRT in women to prevent or delay the onset of AD. In this position paper, we review these data, along with our own--using estrogens in a transgenic mouse model of AD--and introduce our current working hypothesis and research.