Affiliations: Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536-0298, USA
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: P.M. Wise, Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536-0298, USA, Tel.: +1 606 323 6045, Fax: +1 606 323 1070, E-mail: [email protected].
Note: [*] This article is published with permission from the University of Kentucky. It is also published in the online journal Alzheimer's Disease Review; www.coa.uky.edu/ADReview/.
Abstract: In recent years our appreciation that estradiol is truly a pleiotropic hormone has grown dramatically. We will review the findings that suggest that estrogens11Estrogens are synthesized by the ovary and several other tissues. They contain 18 carbon atoms and an aromatized A ring. Estradiol is the predominant and most potent of the endogenously synthesized estrogens in adult premenopausal women. Preparations used in estrogen replacement therapy contain a variety of estrogenic compounds. Studies performed using laboratory animals have used a variety of estrogens to replace the endogenous steroid, including estradiol.
may exert important non-reproductive actions on the brain. These studies provide important insights into the clinical effects of estrogen replacement therapy on age- and disease-related processes in the brain. We will also discuss the multiple cellular and molecular mechanisms that may underlie estradiol's neurotrophic and neuroprotective effects.
