Abstract

Perimenopause is one of the most complex and least understood states of a woman's life. Many of the health risks associated with this state were believed to be due to decreases in estrogen levels and that estrogen could protect against health risks faced by perimenopausal women. However, estrogen fluctuates during perimenopause and if at all increases during the premenstrual and follicular phases. Recent clinical trials have shown that chronic administration of estrogenic compounds in postmenopausal women may increase the risk for several diseases. Therefore, it is important to investigate the effects of estrogen exposure on various organ systems. Studies so far indicate that estrogen's effects in the brain are beneficial. These reported effects, however, deal with non-hypothalamic regions of the brain. The effects of chronic estrogen exposure on the hypothalamus which regulates several key body functions have not been investigated. This is critical because women use estrogenic preparations on a prolonged basis and are exposed to endogenous estrogen throughout their adulthood. This proposal focuses on the effects of chronic estrogen exposure on one of the estrogen sensitive neuronal systems of the hypothalamus, namely, the tuberoinfundibular dopaminergic (TIDA) system. Dopamine (DA) released from TIDA neurons inhibits prolactin (PRL) secretion from the anterior pituitary. Age-related reductions in TIDA activity is associated with hyperprolactinemia and appearance of mammary and pitutiary tumors in animal models. The mechanisms behind the loss of TIDA neuronal function is not clear. In this application, we are proposing a novel hypothesis and an interesting model to study how estrogen could affect TIDA neurons and increase PRL levels. This series of studies is important because women not only use estrogen on a long-term basis in HRT but are also exposed to environmental estrogens. Prolonged exposure to estrogen and elevated levels of PRL may promote the risk for breast cancer.

  Funding Agency

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01AG027697-04
Application #
7589666
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-EMNR-J (50))
Program Officer
Mackiewicz, Miroslaw
Project Start
2006-04-15
Project End
2011-03-31
Budget Start
2009-05-15
Budget End
2010-03-31
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
2009
Total Cost
$235,649
Indirect Cost

  Institution

Name
Michigan State University
Department
Pathology
Type
Schools of Veterinary Medicine
DUNS #
193247145
City
East Lansing
State
MI
Country
United States
Zip Code
48824

  Publications

MohanKumar, Sheba M J; Balasubramanian, Priya; Subramanian, Madhan et al. (2018) Chronic estradiol exposure – harmful effects on behavior, cardiovascular and reproductive functions Reproduction :
Subramanian, Madhan; MohanKumar, Sheba M J; Balasubramanian, Priya et al. (2017) Chronic exposure to low doses of estradiol-17ß increases blood pressure in young female rats: A possible role for central Endothelin-1. Sci Rep 7:139
MohanKumar, S M J; Rajendran, T D; Vyas, A K et al. (2017) Effects of prenatal bisphenol-A exposure and postnatal overfeeding on cardiovascular function in female sheep. J Dev Orig Health Dis 8:65-74
Subramanian, Madhan; Hahn-Townsend, Coral; Clark, Kimberly A et al. (2015) Chronic estrogen exposure affects gene expression in the rostral ventrolateral medulla of young and aging rats: Possible role in hypertension. Brain Res 1627:134-42
Balasubramanian, Priya; Varde, Pratibha A; Abdallah, Simon Labib et al. (2015) Differential effects of prenatal stress on metabolic programming in diet-induced obese and dietary-resistant rats. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 309:E582-8
Gilbreath, Ebony T; MohanKumar, Sheba M J; Balasubramanian, Priya et al. (2014) Chronic exposures to low levels of estradiol and their effects on the ovaries and reproductive hormones: Comparison with aging. Endocr Disruptors (Austin) 2:
Balasubramanian, Priya; Subramanian, Madhan; Nunez, Joseph L et al. (2014) Chronic estradiol treatment decreases brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression and monoamine levels in the amygdala--implications for behavioral disorders. Behav Brain Res 261:127-33
Balasubramanian, Priya; Sirivelu, Madhu P; Weiss, Kathryn A et al. (2013) Differential effects of inhalation exposure to PM2.5 on hypothalamic monoamines and corticotrophin releasing hormone in lean and obese rats. Neurotoxicology 36:106-11
Kasturi, Badrinarayanan S; MohanKumar, Sheba M J; Sirivelu, Madhu P et al. (2013) Chronic estradiol-17ýý exposure suppresses hypothalamic norepinephrine release and the steroid-induced luteinizing hormone surge: role of nitration of tyrosine hydroxylase. Brain Res 1493:90-8
Sirivelu, Madhu P; MohanKumar, P S; MohanKumar, Sheba M J (2012) Differential effects of systemic interleukin-1? on gene expression in brainstem noradrenergic nuclei. Life Sci 90:77-81

Showing the most recent 10 out of 21 publications