Accelerate Our Science for Studying Women's Health
Hormones and Nerves In Sex-Specific Physiology
Biological sex is one of nature's most robust variables. We study sex differences and hormone-responsive nodes in the brain and peripheral tissues that maintain metabolic, skeletal, and gut physiology in females to address the large gaps in women's health.
- Bone Loss: After a 5-year hunt for a brain-derived hormone that increases and strengthens bones (Herber, Krause, et al., 2019), we identified a novel potent anabolic hormone that improves bone density in males and females and is also used to sustain bones in lactating mothers (Babey, Krause, et al., 2024). Our new study has now been downloaded >26K since 7/10/24. With funding from NIA, we hope to open new therapeutic doors for osteoporosis. Please consider helping us reach this goal with this link.
- Metabolic Decline: After showing how estrogen triggers a pathway in the brain to increase physical activity in females (Krause et al., 2021 - See NYT Article), follow-up studies are aimed at defining this complex neural circuit with projections to the hindbrain. This work is highly relevant to T2DM, weight gain, and inactivity that often occurs in natural or drug-induced menopause and is funded by NIDDK.
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome: In a project funded by NIDDK, we have defined a gut-brain conduit that propagates intestinal visceral pain syndromes such as IBS, that disproportionately affects women. Read our team's study that defines EC cells as the major driver of gut pain (Bayrer, Castro, et al, 2023). Newer work delineates the role of estrogen signaling in visceral pain - stay tuned for our upcoming bioRxiv preprint in late 2024.
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