title: Sex steroid hormones-related structural plasticity in the human hypothalamus.
abstract: We investigated the effects of an artificial menstrual cycle on brain structure and activity in young women using metabolic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We show that the activation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-gonadal axis during the pill-free interval of low-dose combined oral contraceptive use is associated with transient microstructural and metabolic changes in the female hypothalamus but not in the thalamus, a brain structure unrelated to reproductive control, as assessed by water diffusion and proton magnetic resonance spectra measurements. Our results provide neuroanatomical insights into the mechanism by which sex steroid hormones mediate their central effects and raise the intriguing possibility that specific regions of the neuroendocrine brain use ovarian cycle-dependent plasticity to control reproduction in humans. These MRI-based physiological studies may pave the way for the development of new diagnostic and treatment strategies in the central loss of reproductive competence in human syndromes, such as hypothalamic amenorrhea.
authors.affiliation: Inserm, Jean-Pierre Aubert Research Center, U837, Development and Plasticity of the Postnatal Brain, Lille, France.
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Baroncini
authors.forename: Patrice
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jissendi
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Catteau-Jonard
authors.forename: Didier
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dewailly
authors.forename: Jean-Pierre
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Pruvo
authors.forename: Jean-Paul
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Francke
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Prevot
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003278:Contraceptives, Oral, Hormonal / Q000494:pharmacology; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D005260:Female; D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D007030:Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System / Q000502:physiology; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008297:Male; D008597:Menstrual Cycle / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D010913:Pituitary-Adrenal System / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D003278:Contraceptives, Oral, Hormonal; D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones