Abstract
The mitochondria have a fundamental role in both cellular energy supply and oxidative stress regulation and are target of the effects of sex steroids, particularly the neuroprotective ones. Aging is associated with a decline in the levels of different steroid hormones, and this decrease may underline some neural dysfunctions. Besides, modifications in mitochondrial functions associated with aging processes are also well documented. In this review, we will discuss studies that describe the modifications of brain mitochondrial function and of steroid levels associated with physiological aging and with neurodegenerative diseases. A special emphasis will be placed on describing and discussing our recent findings concerning the concomitant study of mitochondrial function (oxidative phosphorylation, oxidative stress) and brain steroid levels in both young (3-month-old) and aged (20-month-old) male and female mice.
Highlights
The cross-talk between mitochondria and sex steroids plays a major role in the brain
We showed that the NADH-linked respiration rate was higher in young females when compared to young males, and that it was related to a higher pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDHc) activity; the oxidative stress was lower in young females than in young males
In Wistar rats, young females produced less H2O2 than their male counterparts (Borrás et al, 2003), whereas the rate of anion superoxide generation was equivalent between males and females young C57BL/6 mice (Ali et al, 2006). Both brain steroid levels and their effects present substantial differences between mice and rat (Kellogg and Frye, 1999; Ebner et al, 2006; Liu et al, 2012; Porcu and Morrow, 2014). The latter point is essential since we demonstrated that sex differences observed in brain mitochondrial metabolism are dependent on steroid levels
Summary
The cross-talk between mitochondria and sex steroids plays a major role in the brain. Sex steroids influence numerous functions of mitochondria: energy production, oxidative stress regulation, calcium homeostasis, cell proliferation or apoptosis (Nilsen and Diaz Brinton, 2003; Chen et al, 2009a,b; Sayeed et al, 2009; Gaignard et al, 2017). Since sex steroids decrease and mitochondrial alterations are known to be implicated in aging, understanding the relationship between both is a key to explore normal and pathological brain aging. We expose the current knowledge about sexual dimorphism in mitochondrial function during normal brain aging and in neurodegenerative diseases, and we emphasize the role of sex steroids on it
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