Neuron estrogen effects

Kow, L. M., Pfaff, D. W. Estrogen effects on neuronal responsiveness to electrical and neurotransmitter stimulation an in vitro study on the ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus. Brain Research (1985), 347,1. 

As to the primary developmental actions of testosterone, growth and differentiation appear to be involved. Testosterone or estradiol stimulates outgrowth of neurites from developing hypothalamic neurons that contain estrogen receptors [14, 15]. This is believed to be one of the principal aspects of testosterone action that increases the number and the size of neurons within specific hypothalamic nuclei in males, compared to females [1, 14, 15]. 5a-DHT may have a similar effect on androgen-sensitive neurons. Differentiation of target neurons also occurs in adult brain tissue, hormones like estradiol can evoke responses that differ between adult male and female rats [1,14,15],... 

FIGURE 52-10 Summary of adrenal steroid effects on neurons of the hippocampus, illustrating their ability to protect and stabilize the population of the dentate granule neurons and to potentiate damage caused by excitatory amino-acid release upon pyramidal neurons. E, estrogen. (From [41], with permission.)... 

Other putative effects of estrogens include preservation of autoregulatory function, an antioxidant effect, reduction of A(i production and neurotoxicity, reduced excitotoxicity, increased expression of antiapoptotic factor bcl-2, and activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways. Also, there is overwhelming data indicating that estrogens enhance survival of neurons both in vitro and in vivo (Green and Simpkins, 2000). 

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