Testosterone and dihydrotestosterone differentially improve cognition in aged female mice.
Compared with age-matched male mice, female mice experience a more severe age-related cognitive decline (ACD). Since androgens are less abundant in aged female mice compared with aged male mice, androgen supplementation may enhance cognition in aged female mice. To test this, we assessed behavioral performance on a variety of tasks in 22- to 24-mo-old gonadally intact female mice treated for 6 wk with silastic capsules containing either testosterone (T) or dihydrotestosterone (DHT) or empty capsules (placebo). Compared with placebo-treated mice, spatial memory retention in the water maze was enhanced by testosterone treatment, but not DHT treatment. In contrast, DHT treatment improved passive avoidance (PA) retention, while T treatment only did so marginally. These data support that androgen supplementation in old female mice improves cognitive performance differentially depending upon the type of hormone treatment and cognitive task.
Benice
Ted S
TS
Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon 97239, USA.
Raber
Jacob
J
D000728:Androgens / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D001362:Avoidance Learning / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy*; D013196:Dihydrotestosterone / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004343:Drug Implants; D005106:Exploratory Behavior / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D016555:Matched-Pair Analysis; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D012737:Sex Factors; D013037:Spatial Behavior / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013739:Testosterone / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000502:physiology*
D000728:Androgens; D004343:Drug Implants; D013196:Dihydrotestosterone; D013739:Testosterone