Therapeutic implications of brain steroidogenesis
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Iñigo Azcoitia
Abstract
The nervous system is a steroidogenic tissue and several steroids synthesized locally in the brain, such as pregnenolone, progesterone and estradiol, modulate neuronal and glial physiology and are neuroprotective. The brain upregulates steroidogenesis at sites of injury as part of a program triggered by neural tissue to cope with neurodegenerative insults. Pharmacological targets to increase brain steroidogenesis and promote neuroprotection include the molecules that transport cholesterol to the inner mitochondrial membrane, where the first enzyme for steroidogenesis is located. Furthermore, the human gene encoding aromatase, the enzyme that synthesizes estradiol, is under the control of different tissue-specific promoters, and it is therefore conceivable that selective aromatase modulators can be developed that will enhance the expression of the enzyme and the consequent increase in estrogen formation in the brain but not in other tissues.
©2009 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin New York
Articles in the same Issue
- Reviews
- Estrogen receptor-α: molecular mechanisms and interactions with the ubiquitin proteasome system
- A native steroid hormone derivative triggers the resolution of inflammation
- Mini Review
- Therapeutic implications of brain steroidogenesis
- Original articles
- Beneficial effects of 2 years of administration of parenteral testosterone undecanoate on the metabolic syndrome and on non-alcoholic liver steatosis and C-reactive protein
- Effects of isoquinolonesulfonamides on action potential secretion coupling in pituitary cells
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Articles in the same Issue
- Reviews
- Estrogen receptor-α: molecular mechanisms and interactions with the ubiquitin proteasome system
- A native steroid hormone derivative triggers the resolution of inflammation
- Mini Review
- Therapeutic implications of brain steroidogenesis
- Original articles
- Beneficial effects of 2 years of administration of parenteral testosterone undecanoate on the metabolic syndrome and on non-alcoholic liver steatosis and C-reactive protein
- Effects of isoquinolonesulfonamides on action potential secretion coupling in pituitary cells
- Pharmacotherapy with 17β-estradiol and progesterone prevents development of mouse experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis
