Abstract
Estrogen receptor β (ERβ) has been previously mapped in the rat central nervous system. This study aims to explore the regulation of ERβ mRNA as it is expressed in the intact and cycling female rat brain. Young adult female rats (90+ day, N=20) were screened for estrous phases via vaginal cytology and sacrificed. Brains and blood were collected and processed for in situ hybridization and estradiol (E2) and progesterone (P4) hormone assays, respectively. ERβ mRNA levels exhibited significant correlations with ovarian steroid ratios (E2/P4) in various brain regions, including the bed nucleus of stria terminalis, the medial nucleus of amygdala, and the anteroventral periventricular nuclei but not the paraventricular and the supraoptic nuclei or the preoptic area of the hypothalamus. No regulatory changes were detected in the cortex. Specifically, in the affected regions, higher P4 levels were significantly correlated with higher ERβ mRNA expression. In contrast, there was a tendency for higher E2 levels to be correlated with lower ERβ mRNA expression, but this tendency reached significance only in the bed nucleus of stria terminalis. These results suggest that ERβ mRNA is regulated in the intact and cycling female rat hypothalamic as well as extrahypothalamic brain regions, and the circulating ovarian hormones play a critical role.
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