Global aging is a challenging reality of this century. In 2010, there were 576 million people aged 65 years and over, worldwide. The expectation for 2050 is that this number will triple, reaching 1.5 billion people 1 . It is important to note that the highest population aging rates occur in developing countries. It is expected that between 2010 and 2050 the number of older people in developing countries will grow around 250%, while in developed countries the rate will be 71% 1 . Notably, the change in aging is rising: a child born in Brazil in 2015 has a life expectancy 20 years longer than Brazilians who were born just 50 years ago 2 . The maintenance of cognitive skills is fundamental for preservation of autonomy and quality of life among elderly individuals. Age-associated cognitive decline is characterized by changes in attention regulation, processing speed and memory capacity
Results:The XbaI -351 AA genotype was more common among cognitive decliners, while -351G allele carriers showed cognitive stability or improvement. Conclusion: These results suggest that ESR-1 could be associated with one-year cognitive decline in healthy oldest-old individuals, since the estrogen pathway may be involved with neuroprotection, even in healthy brain aging.Keywords: estrogen receptor alpha; polymorphism, genetic; aging; cognition. Resultados: O genótipo XbaI -351 AA foi mais comum entre indivíduos que apresentaram declínio cognitivo, enquanto carreadores do alelo -351G demonstraram estabilidade ou melhora cognitiva. Conclusão: Estes resultados sugerem que ESR-1 poderia estar associado ao declínio cognitivo em curto prazo em idosos saudáveis, possivelmente por meio de propriedades neuroprotetoras do estrogênio, mesmo em cérebros idosos saudáveis.
RESUMOPalavras-chave: receptor alfa de estrogênio; polimorfismo genético; envelhecimento; cognição.