Neuroactive steroids regulate astroglia morphology in hippocampal cultures from adult rats

Cerro, Sonia del; Garcı́a-Estrada, Joaquı́n; García‐Segura, Luis M.

doi:10.1002/glia.440140109

Cited by 74 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 47 publications

(52 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…46 Animals studies in rodents have generally found memory-enhancing effects, 47 antidepressant-like effects, 48 antianxiety effect, 49 and neurotrophic effects. 50,51 In humans, levels in circulation decline with age, 52 with chronic stress and medical illness. 53 DHEA and DHEA-S may physiologically buffer the effects of excessive glucocorticoid exposure.…”

Section: Hpg Axismentioning

confidence: 99%

Brain-immune interactions and disease susceptibility

2005

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Many studies have established the routes by which the immune and central nervous (CNS) systems communicate. This network of connections permits the CNS to regulate the immune system through both neuroendocrine and neuronal pathways. In turn, the immune system signals the CNS through neuronal and humoral routes, via immune mediators and cytokines. This regulatory system between the immune system and CNS plays an important role in susceptibility and resistance to autoimmune, inflammatory, infectious and allergic diseases. This review focuses on the regulation of the immune system via the neuroendocrine system, and underlines the link between neuroendocrine dysregulation and development of major depressive disorders, autoimmune diseases and osteoporosis.

show abstract

Section: Hpg Axismentioning

confidence: 99%

Brain-immune interactions and disease susceptibility

2005

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…They work through modulating GABA receptor functions on the neuronal membrane. In vivo studies indicated that pregnenolone directly influences the neuronal structure [21]and astroglial morphology [22]. Although this provided evidence that the neurosteroid is synthesized in the early development period [23, 24, 25], regulation and functions of steroidogenesis in developing neurons are not known [26].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Neuroactive Steroid, Pregnenolone, Alters the Striatal Dopaminergic Tone before and after Puberty

Muneoka¹,

Takigawa²

2002

Neuroendocrinology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Neuroactive steroids are known to modulate excitability in neurons. Neuronal activity during early development is critical to normal development of the brain. A neuroactive steroid, pregnenolone, was administered (10 µg/g) to rats from postnatal day 3 (PD 3) through PD 7. Dopamine (DA), serotonin (5-HT) and their metabolites were measured in the striatum. The results showed that neonatal treatment with pregnenolone increases DA and 5-HT turnover in the striatum at 3 weeks of age. The increased 5-HT turnover in the pregnenolone-treated animals was normalized at 14 weeks of age whereas the DA turnover in the pregnenolone-treated group was lower than in the control group. The present study indicated that pregnenolone treatment during the neonatal period induced abnormal development of the striatal dopaminergic function in adulthood.

show abstract

“…They also participate in the synthesis of neurosteroids and the metabolism of sex hormones which can regulate the expression of glial fibrillary acid protein (GFAP) through their glucocorticoid and estrogen receptors [40,41]. GFAP immunoreactivity is age and sex dependent [42] and can be reduced in males by chemical castration and increased in females by testosterone [43].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex-Specific Effects of Prenatal Stress on Memory and Markers of Neuronal Activity in Juvenile Rats

Barbie-Shoshani

Shoham²,

Bejar³

et al. 2016

Dev Neurosci

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Stress during pregnancy can increase the incidence of emotional problems, learning and language difficulties in human infants and pre-adolescents. Most preclinical studies in rats that attempted to find experimental support for these observations were performed in adult male offspring, but the results are inconsistent. The aim of the current study was to examine the effect of prenatal stress on novel object recognition (NOR) and spatial learning and memory in the Morris water maze (MWM) of juvenile rats of both sexes. By the use of fluorescence immunohistochemistry and protein measurements by Western blot, we measured the expression of markers of neurogenesis (doublecortin, DCX) and neuronal activity that are important for synaptic plasticity and learning (c-fos, GluR1, nNOS). Since neuronal activity in the developing and adult brain can be regulated by astrocytes, we also measured the number of astrocytes and the expression of two astroglial proteins (GFAP and S100B) in the stress-responsive hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG). Experiments were performed on littermates of rats in which its effects on behavior were measured. We found for the first time that juvenile females performed better than males in the NOR and MWM tests. They also had higher densities of DCX and c-fos in the DG, together with the expression of nNOS and GluR1 in the subgranular zone (SGZ) of the DG. There were no sex differences in the expression of GFAP and S100B in astrocytes. Prenatal stress did not affect NOR in females, but improved it in males, together with an increase in DCX+ and c-fos, the number of GFAP-expressing astrocytes and the intensity of GFAP and S100B immunofluorescence in the DG. Staining intensity of GluR1 and nNOS in the hilus and SGZ of the DG, and protein expression in the whole DG, was unchanged in prenatally stressed males. Thus, prenatal stress changed the behavior and expression of key proteins in the DG to resemble that in females. A reduction in plasma testosterone, which although not attaining statistical significance was associated with that in anogenital distance, may contribute to the effect of prenatal stress in males. In females, prenatal stress had no effect on c-fos, DCX or the number of astrocytes but reduced the staining intensity of GluR1 and nNOS. Protein expression of nNOS was also significantly lower than that in prenatally stressed males. The differential effects of prenatal stress on hippocampal neuronal and glial markers may help to explain the sex-dependent effect on spatial learning in prepubertal rats.

show abstract

Neuroactive steroids regulate astroglia morphology in hippocampal cultures from adult rats

Cited by 74 publications

References 47 publications

Brain-immune interactions and disease susceptibility

Brain-immune interactions and disease susceptibility

A Neuroactive Steroid, Pregnenolone, Alters the Striatal Dopaminergic Tone before and after Puberty

Sex-Specific Effects of Prenatal Stress on Memory and Markers of Neuronal Activity in Juvenile Rats

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About