Endocrine Abstracts

Proliferative inflammatory atrophy and prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia are the first signs of prostate cancer. This inflammatory etiology, together with the infiltration of immune cells, could lead to the binding of the cytokines with cancer cells, forming a population that could initiate tumor growth. [1] Androgens also play an essential role in prostate tumor growth, as is well documented. [2] Androgen deprivation therapy is currently the gold standard for hormone-sensit...

Benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostate cancer are androgen-dependent diseases. Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) is a 5α-reduced metabolite of testosterone (T), which is the causative factor for the progression of these diseases. The 5α-reductase enzyme (5α-R) converts T to DHT, which is responsible for increasing cell proliferation, and hence inhibition of this enzyme could lead to potential treatments for these afflictions. This study aimed to determine the biologi...

We determined in vitro activity of 17β-estradiol and or progesterone on glutamate conversion to GABA in different GABAergic regions from the brain of castrated and non-castrated rats. The glutamate decarboxylase catalyzes this conversion; there are two different isotypes of glutamate decarboxylase, GAD65 and GAD67. Whereas GAD65 is a membrane enzyme, GAD67 is present in the supernatant obtained after centrifuging to 14,...

Sleep is disturbed in both healthy and pathological aging, so it is essential to consider the role of ovarian hormones in both processes. Studies supporting the natural function of E2 (or elevated FSH) in fragmented sleep are inconsistent because when non-human animals have been used, they have mainly been male. Given this background, this study focused on determining the role of different estradiol and progesterone doses in the intermittent arousals of castrated rats maintain...

It is well-known that the increase of intraprostatic levels of 5α-dihydrotestosterone is related to the development of prostatic pathologies such as benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostate cancer. So finasteride and dutasteride-based therapies have been used to improve these diseases. These drugs are potent inhibitors of the enzyme 5α-reductase, which is found in the androgen-dependent tissues. This enzyme is responsible for converting testosterone into dihydrotest...

Prostate and seminal vesicles are male accessory sex glands secreting fluids that, together with sperm, form the semen. Clear evidence indicating these organs depend on androgens was found the men suffering hypogonadism because, in them, the function of these glands decreases markedly. Because prostate and seminal vesicles are androgen-dependent organs, they have been used as a model to test antiandrogenic drugs in different animal species.The objective ...

Glioblastoma (GB) is the most aggressive primary brain tumor, the survival rate is low because of a high prevalence of recidives. The incidence of GB in the adult population is 50% higher in men than in women, which suggest a role of steroid hormones in it is development. Information on GB as a steroidogenic tissue is poor. The objectives of this study were: 1, to investigate the capacity of a human GB cell line to synthesize sex steroids and corticosteroid metabolites, and 2,...