title: Post-mortem stability of progesterone in rat brain.
abstract: Progesterone concentrations in the brains of female rats kept at +20 degrees C or +4 degrees C for 0 to 48 hours after death were investigated. After two hours at +20 degrees C the progesterone concentration in seven studied brain areas were equal to that in control brains (dissected immediately after death). After four hours at +20 degrees C, levels decreased significantly in three brain regions. Intact rats that were placed in a refrigerator (+4 degrees C) after four hours at room temperature (+20 degrees C) showed no further changes in brain progesterone concentration. In the control group, the cerebral cortex, the hypothalamus and the hippocampus contained progesterone levels significantly higher than in all other areas (p less than 0.05). After four hours at room temperature only the hypothalamus showed higher levels (p less than 0.05). In conclusion, time after death and storage temperature affect the post-mortem levels of progesterone. Because of their differences in body masses, the conditions in the rat brain are not comparable to those in the human brain. However, it might be possible to study the regional distribution of progesterone in the human brain if control cases matched with regard to post-mortal time and brain temperature are used.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001923:Brain Chemistry; D003338:Corpus Luteum / Q000473:pathology; D004717:Endometrium / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D011180:Postmortem Changes; D011374:Progesterone / Q000032:analysis*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D013696:Temperature; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D011374:Progesterone