Progesterone exacerbates striatal stroke injury in progesterone-deficient female animals

We have previously shown that female animals experience substantial protection from brain injury after reversible middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) compared with their male or ovariectomized female counterparts. The reproductive steroid estrogen has been shown to provide neuroprotection from a variety of experimental insults, but the importance of progesterone as an anti-ischemic treatment has not been well explored. We evaluated histological outcomes after MCAO in ovariectomized female rats with or without acute or chronic progesterone replacement therapy.

Age-matched, adult female Wistar rats were ovariectomized and treated with 0, 30, or 60 mg/kg progesterone IP 30 minutes before ischemia (n=12 to 14 per group) or with 30 mg/kg progesterone IP daily for 7 to 10 days before ischemia (n=16). Each animal subsequently underwent 2 hours of MCAO with the intraluminal filament technique, followed by 22 hours of reperfusion. Ipsilateral parietal cortex perfusion was monitored with laser Doppler flowmetry throughout ischemia. Cortical, caudate-putamen, and hemispheric infarction volumes were determined with 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride staining and digital image analysis.

Intraischemic plasma progesterone levels were 5+/-3, 102+/-20,* 181+/-28,* and 133+/-25* ng/mL in the 0, 30, and 60 mg/kg acute progesterone group and the 30 mg/kg chronic progesterone group, respectively (*P<0.05 compared with 0 mg/kg). Caudate-putamen infarction volume (percent contralateral structure) was significantly increased by chronic progesterone treatment: 45.6+/-5.1%* in the 30 mg/kg chronic progesterone group and 29.2+/-5.3%, 35.8+/-5.1%, and 42.0+/-5.0% in the 0, 30, and 60 mg/kg acute progesterone groups, respectively (*P<0.05 compared with 0 mg/kg). Cortical and total hemispheric infarction volumes (percent contralateral structure) were unchanged by progesterone treatment.

Exogenous progesterone therapy does not ameliorate histological injury after MCAO in previously ovariectomized, adult female rats. Furthermore, chronic progesterone administration can exacerbate infarction in subcortical regions.