Estrogens influence behavioral responses in a kainic acid model of neurotoxicity

• Published in: Hormones and behavior Vol. 48; no. 3; pp. 291 - 302
• Main Authors: Papalexi, Eugenia, Antoniou, Katerina, Kitraki, Efthimia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Inc 01.09.2005; Elsevier; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Analysis of Variance; Animal ethology; Animals; Behavioral psychophysiology; Biological and medical sciences; Brain Injuries - chemically induced; Brain Injuries - drug therapy; Brain Injuries - physiopathology; Estradiol; Estradiol - metabolism; Estradiol - pharmacology; Exploratory Behavior - drug effects; Exploratory Behavior - physiology; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Hippocampus; Hippocampus - drug effects; Hippocampus - pathology; Hippocampus - physiology; Hormones and behavior; Kainic Acid; Mammalia; Maze Learning - drug effects; Maze Learning - physiology; Models, Animal; Neurons - drug effects; Neurons - pathology; Neurons - physiology; Neuroprotective Agents - metabolism; Neuroprotective Agents - pharmacology; Neurotoxicity Syndromes - drug therapy; Neurotoxicity Syndromes - physiopathology; Neurotoxins; Object recognition; Open field; Ovariectomy; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Rat; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Recognition (Psychology) - drug effects; Recognition (Psychology) - physiology; Space Perception - drug effects; Space Perception - physiology; Vertebrata; Water maze; Rat; Water maze; Open field; Object recognition; Estradiol; Kainic acid; Hippocampus; Agonist; Memory; Central nervous system; Estrogen; 17β-Estradiol; Glutamate receptor; Encephalon; Kainate receptor; Neurotoxicity; Rodentia; Ovarian hormone; Open field behavior; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Animal; Models; Sex steroid hormone; Recognition
• DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2005.03.009
• ISSN: 0018-506X

The behavioral and neuroprotective effects of 17β-estradiol (E2), on ovariectomized rats treated with a subconvulsive dose (7 mg/kg bw, ip) of kainic acid (KA), were examined. Estradiol was administered either acutely (150 μg/rat, ip) along with KA, 14 days post-ovariectomy, or chronically (sc capsules providing proestrus estrogen levels in serum) starting at ovariectomy. Exploratory behavior, as deduced by sniffing in the open field test, was reduced in KA-treated rats. Both hormonal schemes partially restored sniffing behavior in KA-lesioned subjects. Moreover, acute and chronic E2 administration in KA-treated rats resulted in increased vertical and horizontal activity of these animals in the open field test. Memory for object recognition was reduced following KA and was not restored by hormonal treatments. Acute, but not chronic, E2 coadministration with KA significantly impaired spatial performance in the water maze task, while KA alone had no effect. Both acute and chronic estradiol administration rescued hilar and CA1 neurons from KA-induced cell death. Chronic, but not acute, E2 increased neurofilament immunoreactivity in the mossy fibers of the dentate gyrus neurons, similarly to KA. Our results show that although estradiol administration in KA-treated rats has beneficial effects on cell survival, it has diverse effects on exploratory behavior, object, and spatial memory. Estradiol effects on KA-lesioned animals depended on the duration and timing of exposure to the hormone, implying different mechanisms of hormone actions.