title: Estrogen receptor beta treats Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: In vitro studies have shown that estrogen receptor β can attenuate the cytotoxic effect of amyloid β protein on PC12 cells through the Akt pathway without estrogen stimulation. In this study, we aimed to observe the effect of estrogen receptor β in Alzheimer's disease rat models established by intraventricular injection of amyloid β protein. Estrogen receptor β lentiviral particles delivered via intraventricular injection increased Akt content in the hippocampus, decreased interleukin-1β mRNA, tumor necrosis factor α mRNA and amyloid β protein levels in the hippocampus, and improved the learning and memory capacities in Alzheimer's disease rats. Estrogen receptor β short hairpin RNA lentiviral particles delivered via intraventricular injection had none of the above impacts on Alzheimer's disease rats. These experimental findings indicate that estrogen receptor β, independent from estrogen, can reduce inflammatory reactions and amyloid β deposition in the hippocampus of Alzheimer's disease rats, and improve learning and memory capacities. This effect may be mediated through activation of the Akt pathway.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, the First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun 130021, Jilin Province, China.
authors.forename: Zhu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, the Second Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun 130041, Jilin Province, China.
authors.forename: Jia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, the First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun 130021, Jilin Province, China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, the First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun 130021, Jilin Province, China.
authors.forename: Sheng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bi
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the Second Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun 130041, Jilin Province, China.
authors.forename: Lihui
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Si
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, the First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun 130021, Jilin Province, China.
authors.forename: Qun
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Liu
keywords: Akt signaling pathway; Alzheimer's disease; amyloid β protein; cognition; estrogen; estrogen receptor β; inflammatory cytokines; neural protection; neural regeneration; neurodegenerative diseases; neuroregeneration; photographs-containing paper