MONDAY, Jan. 14 (HealthDay News) -- Estradiol's neuroprotective effects in aging female rats may be due to increased levels of glucose transporters and changes in brain signaling pathways, according to study findings published in the January issue of Endocrinology.
Ana Alonso, and colleagues from the University of Oviedo in Spain, examined the effect of estradiol treatment on brain signaling pathways and glucose transporter levels in ovariectomized female rats.
The researchers found that estradiol-treated and normal rats had higher levels of glucose transporter-3 and -4 than ovariectomized rats. Estradiol treatment also appeared to increase the interactions between the estrogen receptor-α, insulin receptor substrate-1 and the p85-α subunit of phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase.
"The results indicate that estradiol treatment improves some aspects of neuronal homeostasis that are affected by aging; this may indicate that estradiol has neuroprotective effects in female rats," Alonso and colleagues conclude.
Abstract
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