Age- and sex-differences in the nitric oxide synthase expression and dopamine concentration in the murine model of Parkinson's disease induced by 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine

The impact of age and gender on the striatal astrocytes activation in murine model of Parkinson’s disease

“…Our previous results demonstrated that male mice, in particular aged males, respond faster and with greater nigro-striatal lesion to MPTP intoxication than their female counterparts [12] and that generally the nigro-striatal system of females shows significantly less neurodegeneration in response to MPTP (regardless of age) [12,13]. These findings are consistent with previous clinical and experimental studies, which have demonstrated that PD is recognized as an agerelated and sexually dimorphic disorder (with male dominance) [26,27].…”

“…Because GFAP can itself directly play a role in the process of activation of astrocytes, the indicated gender-related skewing in expression of GFAP gene and protein post-MPTP intoxication in our study may have some influence on the phenotype of astrocyte response to lesion. In our opinion, the earlier astrocytes response in males may have the properties of astrogliosis with rather neurotoxic character, because this phenomenon coincides well with the greater tyrosine hydroxylase and DA depletion after MPTP in young and aged males at the early time points (reported in our previous studies [12,13]). Furthermore, this higher constructive production of GFAP mRNA in aged male mice may make these animals more susceptible to further neurotoxic stimulation.…”

“…Thus, we speculate that the later astrocytes response in females may be coupled with astrogliosis involved in compensatory and survival-promoting mechanisms. It is also interesting to note that the magnitude of the striatal GFAP protein increase in response to MPTP intoxication was smallest in young female mice where the degenerative processes were slightly pronounced [12,13,27].…”

“…Based on the fact that MPTP induces greater neurotoxicity in males than in females as well as in older than in young animals, and on our previous result indicating that the expression of some molecular factors of neuroinflammatory reaction, such as cytokines may be closely linked to this phenomenon [12,13], we decided further to investigate if age and gender may influence the regulation of reactive astrogliosis in lesioned nigro-striatal system. For this purpose, we studied the temporal changes in striatal content of both GFAP mRNA and GFAP protein in young and aged female and male C57BL/6 mice following MPTP intoxication.…”

Different Isoforms of Nitric Oxide Synthase Are Involved in Angiotensin-(1–7)-Mediated Plasticity Changes in the Amygdala in a Gender-Dependent Manner

“…Thus, the behavioral data indicates a significantly higher level of anxiety in Mas-deficient male mice, implying that the lack of Mas protein influences anxiety in a sex-specific manner. Data exists that support the hypothesis of the involvement of iNOS and nNOS, but not eNOS, in neurodegenerative processes [49]. Gender differences in Alzheimer’s disease and neurodegenerative processes, though still largely unexplored, generally appear to offer great promise for the development of better strategies for patient intervention.…”