Acute E2 Research Articles

Estrogen Restores Postischemic Sensitivity to the Thromboxane Mimetic U46619 in Rat Pial Artery

The objectives of the study were to (1) characterize the dose-response relationship to the TXA2 analog, U46619 (0.01, 0.1, and 1 micromol/L) after global cerebral ischemia, (2) determine whether chronic 17beta-estradiol (E2) replacement alters this relationship, and (3) determine if E2's mechanisms are transduced through cognate estrogen receptors. Rats were assigned to five groups (n=6): placebo-implanted ovariectomized (OVX) females, OVX plus chronic E2 (CE), OVX plus acute E2 (AE), OVX plus chronic E2 plus the estrogen receptor inhibitor ICI 182,780 (CEI), and OVX plus acute E2 plus ICI 182,780 (AEI). Rats were anesthetized, intubated, cannulated (femoral artery and vein), fitted with a closed cranial window, and subjected to 15-min reversible forebrain ischemia (4-vessel occlusion, 4-VO) and 60 mins of reperfusion. Arterial blood gases, intrawindow pressure, and temperature were controlled. Vessel diameter was measured before and 5 mins after superfusion of each concentration of U46619. Compared with preischemic responses, contractile response to U46619 was depressed at all concentrations after ischemia in the OVX group. In the chronic E2 and acute E2 groups, contractile response to 1 micromol/L of U46619 was normalized to near baseline values. However, in the CEI and the AEI groups, postischemic vasoconstriction was similar to that observed in the OVX rats. We conclude that E2 targets the cerebral microvasculature to preserve postischemic pial artery reactivity and that the effect is receptor mediated. Restoration of normal constriction to vascular agonists may be an important mechanism by which E2 protects the vasculature and diminishes tissue damage after ischemia.

Acute effects of 17beta-estradiol on myocardial pH, Na+, and Ca2+ and ischemia-reperfusion injury.

Evidence suggests that 1) ischemia-reperfusion injury is due largely to cytosolic Ca(2+) accumulation resulting from functional coupling of Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchange (NCE) with stimulated Na(+)/H(+) exchange (NHE1) and 2) 17beta-estradiol (E2) stimulates release of NO, which inhibits NHE1. Thus we tested the hypothesis that acute E2 limits myocardial Na(+) and therefore Ca(2+) accumulation, thereby limiting ischemia-reperfusion injury. NMR was used to measure cytosolic pH (pH(i)), Na(+) (Na(i)(+)), and calcium concentration ([Ca(2+)](i)) in Krebs-Henseleit (KH)-perfused hearts from ovariectomized rats (OVX). Left ventricular developed pressure (LVDP) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release were also measured. Control ischemia-reperfusion was 20 min of baseline perfusion, 40 min of global ischemia, and 40 min of reperfusion. The E2 protocol was identical, except that 1 nM E2 was included in the perfusate before ischemia and during reperfusion. E2 significantly limited the changes in pH(i), Na(i)(+), and [Ca(2+)](i) during ischemia (P < 0.05). In control OVX vs. OVX+E2, pH(i) fell from 6.93 +/- 0.03 to 5.98 +/- 0.04 vs. 6.96 +/- 0.04 to 6.68 +/- 0.07; Na(i)(+) rose from 25 +/- 6 to 109 +/- 14 meq/kg dry wt vs. 25 +/- 1 to 76 +/- 3; [Ca(2+)](i) changed from 365 +/- 69 to 1,248 +/- 180 nM vs. 293 +/- 66 to 202 +/- 64 nM. E2 also improved recovery of LVDP and diminished release of LDH during reperfusion. Effects of E2 were diminished by 1 microM N(omega)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester. Thus the data are consistent with the hypothesis. However, E2 limitation of increases in [Ca(2+)](i) is greater than can be accounted for by the thermodynamic effect of reduced Na(i)(+) accumulation on NCE.

Acute effects of estradiol infusion and naloxone on luteinizing hormone secretion in pubertal boys.

We have shown previously in pubertal boys that testosterone (T) suppresses the nocturnal augmentation of luteinizing hormone (LH) secretion principally by decreasing LH pulse frequency. As T can be aromatised to estradiol (E2), and E2 effects on LH secretory dynamics may be separate from those of T, we examined the effects of acute E2 infusion on LH secretion in pubertal boys. Opioid receptor blockade has been reported to increase LH secretion after estradiol suppression in adult men, so we also examined whether naloxone might augment LH secretion during E2 treatment in pubertal boys. Starting at 1000 h, eight pubertal boys were given a 33 h saline infusion, followed 1 week later by an E2 infusion at 4.6 nmol/m2/h. During both infusions, four iv boluses of saline were given hourly beginning at 1200 h on the first day, and four naloxone iv boluses, 0.1 mg/kg each, were given hourly beginning at 1200 h on the second day. Blood was obtained every 15 min for LH, and every 60 min for T and E2, from 1200 h until the end of the infusion. Pituitary responsiveness to gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) was assessed after both infusions by iv administration of 250 ng/kg synthetic GnRH. Estradiol infusion increased the mean plasma E2 concentration from 23 +/- 4 to 46 +/- 6 pmol/L (P < 0.01) and suppressed mean plasma T from 4.9 +/- 1.4 to 3.0 +/- 3.5 nmol/L (saline vs. E2 infusion, P < 0.05). The overall mean LH was suppressed by E2 infusion from 3.7 +/- 0.5 to 2.2 +/- 0.4 IU/L (saline vs. E2 infusion, P < 0.01). LH pulse frequency was suppressed by 50%, whereas mean LH pulse amplitude was not different between saline and E2 infusions. Administration of naloxone did not alter the mean LH, LH pulse frequency, or amplitude during either saline or E2 infusions. Pituitary responsiveness to exogenous GnRH was similar during both infusions. These studies indicate that E2 produces its negative feedback in pubertal boys principally by suppression of LH pulse frequency, and naloxone does not reverse these suppressive effects. Thus E2 suppression of LH secretion is mediated by a decrease of hypothalamic GnRH secretion that is independent of endogenous opioid pathways.

Myocardial Protection of Contractile Function After Global Ischemia by Physiologic Estrogen Replacement in the Ovariectomized Rat

The role of physiologic estrogen levels (pg) on post-ischemic myocardial function was studied in the isolated working rat heart without (n=28, experiment No. 1) or with (n=15, experiment No. 2) preconditioning. For experiment No. 1, female ovariectomized rats were treated with placebo (n=19) or 17β-estradiol (E2,n=9; chronic E2), and 14 days later hearts were removed and perfused with modified Krebs–Henseleit bufferin vitro. In nine placebo-treated rats, E2 was administered at 20 min prior to ischemia (acute E2). The hearts were subjected to 15 min of global ischemia and 20 min of reflow. In experiment No. 2, ovariectomized rats were treated with placebo (n=8) or 17β-E2 (chronic E2,n=7). In this experiment, hearts were first preconditioned and then subjected to 20 min of sustained ischemia followed by 20 min of reflow. Global ischemia was produced by clamping the aorta and restricting left atrial flow so that coronary flow was reduced to zero; hemodynamics were continuously monitored throughout the study. Aortic flow, coronary flow, cardiac output, and dP/dtwere assessed at baseline, at the end of the ischemic period, and during reflow. The severity of ischemia was measured by post-ischemic release of lactate, lactate dehydrogenase, and creatine kinase and was similar among all groups in each study. In experiment No. 1, recovery of aortic flow, cardiac output, and dP/dtfollowing reperfusion, was significantly improved in rats treated with chronic E2 (P<0.05); acute E2 had no significant benefit. Post-ischemic recovery of coronary flow was not significantly affected. In experiment No. 2, chronic E2 treatment also significantly improved post-ischemic recovery of cardiac function in preconditioned hearts when compared with controls (P<0.05). In summary, E2 replacement in ovariectomized rats improves contractile function following global ischemia and reflow; cardioprotection by estrogen was observed over and above that conferred by ischemic preconditioning. Since the cardioprotective effect of E2 was independent of a significant improvement in coronary flow a direct effect of the hormone on the cardiac myocytes is postulated.

Estrogen reduces proliferation and agonist-induced calcium increase in coronary artery smooth muscle cells.

Epidemiological evidence and estrogen replacement studies suggest that estrogen has a protective effect on the cardiovascular system against coronary artery disease. Vascular smooth muscle (VSM) cell replication has been shown to play a causative role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the effect of chronic treatment of cultured guinea pig coronary artery VSM cells with physiological concentrations of 17beta-estradiol (E2) on thymidine incorporation, cell proliferation, and bradykinin-stimulated cytosolic calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i). Bradykinin at physiological concentrations causes contraction of endothelium-denuded guinea pig coronary artery rings in a concentration-dependent manner. VSM cells were first treated with low doses of E2 (10 pg/ml) for 1-2 days followed by treatment for 4-6 days with 50 pg/ml of E2, a concentration similar to that found in pregnancy. Using these protocols, we consistently observed the presence of E2-receptor mRNA in VSM cells by a ribonuclease protection assay. Fetal calf serum-stimulated [3H]thymidine incorporation was significantly reduced (P < 0.05) in E2-treated cells compared with untreated control cells. Similarly, E2 treatment significantly inhibited fetal calf serum-stimulated VSM cell proliferation compared with untreated control cells (P < 0.05). We also tested the hypothesis that E2 treatment attenuates agonist-stimulated [Ca2+]i in VSM cells because acute E2 treatment has been shown to produce relaxation of precontracted isolated coronary artery preparations. E2 treatment of VSM cells resulted in a significant decrease in bradykinin-stimulated [Ca2+]i compared with untreated cells (P < 0.05). In conclusion, our data demonstrate that estrogen at physiological concentrations directly regulates coronary VSM cell function.

Acute Estradiol Modulation of Electrical Activity of the LHRH Pulse Generator in the Ovariectomized Rat: Restoration by Naloxone

Whether estrogen has the brain as a site of its negative feedback action was investigated by checking the acute effect of estradiol-17 beta (E2) on the electrical activity of the luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) pulse generator in ovariectomized rats fitted with chronically implanted electrode arrays in the medial basal hypothalamus. Before subcutaneous E2 implantation, the hypothalamic multiunit activity (MUA) exhibited, at an average frequency of 2.43/h, characteristic increases (volleys), each of which was associated with the initiation of an LH pulse. Within 2 h after E2 implantation, the frequency of MUA volleys was reduced significantly, probably associated with decreases in the frequency of LH pulses. The decrease in the amplitude of LH pulses occurred later than 2 h, but this effect was considered not to be mediated by the brain since the duration of MUA volleys was not changed. Since the mean serum LH concentration started to decrease within 2 h after E2 implantation, it was concluded that the acute inhibitory E2 effect on LH release is mediated by the brain. On the day after E2 implantation, intravenous infusion of naloxone (2 mg/kg/h) promptly elicited intermittent MUA volleys each of which was associated with an LH pulse. This suggests that operation of the LHRH pulse generator in the ovariectomized condition is restrained by the action of E2 with the mediation of endogenous opioid peptide neurons.

The microsomal monooxygenase system of regenerating liver: An examination of the role of estradiol in the demasculinization of drug metabolism produced by [formula omitted] partial hepatectomy

Declines in total cytochrome P450 content and in monooxygenase activities associated with some male specific isozymes of cytochrome P450 have been reported in the rat following 2 3 partial hepatectomy ( 2 3 PH). In the present study, we examined the effects of 2 3 PH on hepatic microsomal monooxygenase activities towards testosterone, the alkoxyresorufins, p-nitrophenol and carbon tetrachloride in male rats. Levels of P450 apoproteins were determined by Western blot analysis. The effects of hepatectomy and sham operations on plasma growth hormone (GH) pulse profiles and the effects of a single acute dose of estradiol (E2) were studied to determine the role of these factors in 2 3 PH mediated changes in oxidative metabolism. 2 3 PH produced substantial decreases in testosterone hydroxylation at positions 16α, 2α and 7α, but only a small decrease in hydroxylation at position 6β. Reductions in CYP 2C11 (P450h) and CYP 2A1 (P450a) expression were observed with Western blot analysis down to 19 and 41% of control values, respectively, but insignificant effects were observed on expression of CYP 3A (P450p family) proteins recognized by a polyclonal antibody raised against rat CYP 3A2 (P450pcn2). In contrast, acute E2 treatment caused a 2-fold increase in expression of CYP 2A1 apoprotein and significantly decreased expression of CYP 2E1 (P450j) apoprotein and dependent monooxygenase activities, but had no significant effect on expression of CYP 2C11. Both sham operations and 2 3 PH caused a temporary decrease in plasma GH concentrations, but secretion returned towards normal 24–48 hr after both operations. These data suggest that some factor other than GH or E2 must be involved in the selective suppression of some P450 isozymes observed after 2 3 PH.