Ageing Cell

Volume 2 Issue 1 Page 31Issue 1 - 37 - February 2003

doi:10.1046/j.1474-9728.2003.00013.x

Abstract

Are gonadal steroid hormones involved in disorders of brain aging?
Iñigo Azcoitia 1
Lydia L. DonCarlos 2and
Luis M. Garcia-Segura 3
1Departamento de Biología Celular, Facultad de Biología, Universidad Complutense, E-28040 Madrid, Spain 2Department of Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Anatomy, Loyola University Chicago, Stritch School of Medicine, Maywood, IL 60153, USA 3Instituto Cajal, C.S.I.C., E-28002 Madrid, Spain
Correspondence
Luis M. Garcia-Segura, Instituto Cajal, C.S.I.C.; Avenue Doctor. Arce 37; 28002 Madrid, Spain. Tel. 34 915854729; fax: 34 915854754; e-mail: lmgs@cajal.csic.es

Key words : estradiol; neurodegenerative diseases; neuroprotection; progesterone; testosterone.

Summary


Human aging is associated with a decrease of circulating gonadal steroid hormones. Since these hormones act as trophic factors for neurones and glia, it is possible that the decrease in sex steroid levels may contribute to the increased risk of neurodegenerative disorders with advanced age. Sex steroids are neuroprotective in several animal models of central and peripheral neurodegenerative diseases, and clinical data suggest that these hormones may reduce the risk of neural pathology in aged humans. Potential therapeutic approaches for aged-associated neural disorders may emerge from studies conducted to understand the mechanisms of action of sex steroids in the nervous system of aged animals. Alterations in the endogenous capacity of the aged brain to synthesize and metabolize sex steroids, as well as possible aged-associated modifications in the signalling of sex steroid receptors in the nervous system, are important areas for future investigation.

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Pelin Kelicen, Agneta Nordberg. (2006) Feedback Regulation of SREBP and Aromatase in A _(25-35)-Supplemented Human Neuroblastoma Cells. Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology 26 :3, 225
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Manolis Markianos, Marios Panas, Nikos Kalfakis, Dimitrios Vassilopoulos. (2005) Plasma testosterone in male patients with Huntington's disease: Relations to severity of illness and dementia. Annals of Neurology 57 :4, 520
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Iratxe Ciriza, Paloma Carrero, Iñigo Azcoitia, Scott G. Lundeen, Luis M. Garcia-Segura. (2004) Selective estrogen receptor modulators protect hippocampal neurons from kainic acid excitotoxicity: Differences with the effect of estradiol. Journal of Neurobiology 61 :2, 209
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Alzheimer's disease: the impact of age-related changes in reproductive hormones

Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences (CMLS)

1420-682X (Print) 1420-9071 (Online)
Volume 62, Number 3 / February, 2005
DOI 10.1007/s00018-004-4385-z
Pages 299-312

C. E. Gleason 1 , B. Cholerton 1, C. M. Carlsson 1, S. C. Johnson 1and S. Asthana 1

(1)
Wm. S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital, GRECC (11G), 2500 Overlook Terrace, Madison, Wisconsin 53705, USA

Abstract. Recent findings from the Women s Health Initiative (WHI) have raised considerable concern over prolonged use of opposed and unopposed oral conjugated equine estrogen (CEE), given the increased risk of serious adverse effects, including stroke and venous thromboembolic complications. Furthermore, results from the WHI Memory Study (WHIMS) indicated that over 5 years of therapy with Prempro impaired performance on global cognitive tests and nearly doubled the risk of dementia. These surprising findings were contradictory to cumulative evidence from basic science, epidemiological and some intervention studies suggesting hormone therapy was cardioprotective and could potentially reduce the risk of dementia. This review paper focuses on the neurobiology of estrogen, summarizing the clinical evidence for neuroprotective and cognition-enhancing efficacy of estrogen. Further, the paper briefly discusses variables that may account for the unexpected findings of WHIMS, and offers suggestions for future research.

http://www.springerlink.com/content/ax65wydhmnc5dht2/