A review of brain aromatase cytochrome P450

Neurobehavioral effects of dietary soy phytoestrogens

“…A major androgen-metabolizing enzyme, aromatase cytochrome P450, plays a critical role in influencing the genesis of sexually dimorphic brain structures during perinatal development by converting testicular-derived testosterone to estrogen in situ within certain brain structures [9,65,67,70]. The local formation of estrogens (from androgen precursors) via brain aromatase also modulates neuroendocrine functions and regulates sexual behavior in hypothalamic regions of the brain [65,67].…”

“…The local formation of estrogens (from androgen precursors) via brain aromatase also modulates neuroendocrine functions and regulates sexual behavior in hypothalamic regions of the brain [65,67]. These biological parameters represent important elements in the structure/ function relationship of the genesis of the rat CNS perinatally and the morphometric and functional characteristics of hypothalamic brain areas postnatally [28,65,67,70]. It is known that phytoestrogens inhibit aromatase enzyme activity in peripheral endocrine tissue sites during postnatal development (in vitro) [2,3,49,54,56,86,118].…”

Androgen Metabolism in the Brain of the Green Anole Lizard (Anolis carolinensis): Effects of Sex and Season

“…The behavioral effects of T are typically mediated by its conversion in the brain into 17␤-estradiol (E2) by the aromatase enzyme (reviewed in Lephart, 1996) or into 5␣-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) by the 5␣-reductase enzyme (reviewed in Martini, 1982). The behavioral relevance of these two pathways depends on the species and the behavior.…”

Inhibitory effects of pharmacological doses of melatonin on aromatase activity and expression in rat glioma cells

“…These tumours express oestrogen receptor and also express aromatase (Jung-Testas et al, 1992Yague et al, 2004). Expression of aromatase in the brain is involved in the regulatory effects of androgens, via its conversion into oestrogens, on neural differentiation, maturation, neural plasticity, neuroendocrine functions and sexual behaviour (Lephart, 1996). There is some evidence that tamoxifen, one of the oestrogen receptor modulators most frequently used for treatment and also for prevention of breast cancer, arrests the growth of some glioblastomas and it has neuroprotective actions (Shy et al, 2000).…”