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A preliminary study on progesterone antioxidation in promoting learning and memory of young ovariectomized mice
Lu He1, Hui Yang, Li-Dong Zhai
1Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Tianjin Medical University, China.
Introduction:
The aim of this preliminary study was to evaluate the effect of long-term progesterone (P4) treatment on structural and functional deficits associated with the hippocampus.
Material And Methods:
Mice served as sham controls or were bilaterally ovariectomized (Ovx), and a 90-day regimen of placebo or P4 was applied to the animal. After the administration, the acquisition and retrieval of mice in contextual fear conditioning (CFC) and a water maze were examined. Hippocampal tissues from some mice in each group were stained with cresyl violet, and the remainder were taken for determining the antioxidant power.
Results:
Compared with placebo controls, the time spent on freezing was higher and the latencies were longer for mice given high-dose P4 (HP) (p < 0.05) in CFC, and the HP group also had longer searching time spent in the target quadrant (p < 0.05) in the water maze. Compared with placebo controls, the cell number of hippocampus CA1, CA3 and DG was significantly higher in the HP group (p < 0.05), and the thickness of the cell layer in CA1 and DG was also higher in the HP group (p < 0.05). All the oxidative stress biomarkers show that the antioxidative activity in hippocampus tissue from the HP and LP groups is higher than that in placebo controls (p < 0.05).
Conclusions:
Ovx impairs learning and memory of mice, which can be rescued by a long-term regimen of HP via its antioxidant effects.
