title: Testosterone enhances functional recovery after stroke through promotion of antioxidant defenses, BDNF levels and neurogenesis in male rats.
abstract: It is reported that circulating testosterone levels decrease after cerebral ischemia. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of testosterone on oxidative stress, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels, neurogenesis, histological damage and sensorimotor recovery in a castrated male rat model of focal cerebral ischemia. Animals were divided into four groups. For all animals, castrations were conducted 7 days before transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) was done and cerebral ischemia was induced. The first group served as sham. Second was MCAO group and received vehicle only, third was MCAO group that was post-treated with testosterone and the fourth was MCAO group post-treated with testosterone and flutamide. Treatment only with testosterone significantly weakened oxidative stress and increased BDNF levels and sensorimotor recovery during a 10 days period. Rats receiving testosterone demonstrated a significant reduction in infarct volume and a significant increase in neurogenesis on 10th day after focal cerebral ischemia. Our results for the first time showed a potential advantageous effect of testosterone after cerebral ischemia in male rats, which was probably mediated by promoting antioxidant defenses, BDNF levels and neurogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran. Electronic address: fanaei@razi.tums.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Hamed
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fanaei
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Seyed Morteza
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Karimian
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Hamid Reza
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Sadeghipour
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; Department of Neuroscience, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Gholamreza
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hassanzade
authors.affiliation: Non-Communicable Diseases Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Population Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Amir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kasaeian
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Fatemeh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Attari
authors.affiliation: Nursing and Midwifery Faculty, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Samira
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Khayat
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran.
authors.forename: Vahid
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ramezani
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical English Language, School of Medicine, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran.
authors.forename: Mani
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Javadimehr
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000378:metabolism*; D020520:Brain Infarction / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000378:metabolism*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D020244:Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality; D008124:Locomotion / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D008315:Malondialdehyde / Q000097:blood; D055495:Neurogenesis / Q000187:drug effects*; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects; D011596:Psychomotor Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000187:drug effects*; D013739:Testosterone / Q000097:blood / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents; D013739:Testosterone; D008315:Malondialdehyde
keywords: Brain-derived neurotrophic factor; Neurogenesis; Oxidative stress; Stroke; Testosterone