Endocrine Abstracts

The neuroprotective and promyelinating actions of progesterone, now well documented by experimental studies, make it a particularly promising therapeutic agent for neuroinjury. This concept has recently been translated into clinical practice. Progesterone can also be locally produced in the nervous system by neurons and glial cells. Importantly, increased progesterone synthesis after brain injury may be part of endogenous neuroprotective responses. However, the mechanisms by w...

The brain is an important target of progesterone. Already earlier studies consistently reported the presence of progesterone receptors (PR) throughout the brain. The wide distribution of brain PR has subsequently been confirmed by mRNA analysis, immunohistochemistry and more recently by immunoelectron microscopy. Surprisingly, the significance of the wide distribution of PR in the brain has largely remained unexplored, and only hypothalamic receptors have been extensively stud...