title: Behavioral effects of estradiol therapy in ovariectomized rats depend on the age when the treatment is initiated.
abstract: Clinical studies suggest that aging may affect the neural outcome of estrogen therapy in postmenopausal women. In this study we have assessed whether age influences the behavioral outcome of estradiol therapy in rats. Animals were ovariectomized at 2 or 20 months of age. Immediately after ovariectomy animals were treated for 10 weeks with estradiol valerate or vehicle. Estradiol therapy decreased body weight in both young and older rats compared to animals injected with vehicle. In contrast, estradiol treatment improved object recognition memory and decreased anxiety-like behavior in the circular open field of older but not young rats and decreased depressive-like behavior of young but not older animals. Thus, our findings indicate that age affects the outcome of estradiol therapy in the brain.
authors.affiliation: Instituto Cajal, CSIC, E-28002 Madrid, Spain. ydiz@cajal.csic.es
authors.forename: Yolanda
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Diz-Chaves
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kwiatkowska-Naqvi
authors.forename: Hendrik
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Von Hülst
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Pernía
authors.forename: Paloma
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Carrero
authors.forename: Luis M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Garcia-Segura
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D001007:Anxiety / Q000517:prevention & control*; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects; D003863:Depression / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004958:Estradiol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005080:Exercise Test; D005260:Female; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects; D010052:Ovariectomy; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D013550:Swimming
chemical_list: D004958:Estradiol