Effects of ovariectomy on cerebral flow of rats

Recent reports suggest that estrogens may enhance cognitive function in postmenopausal women and women suffering from dementia of the Alzheimer's type. One of several proposed mechanisms of action of estrogen has been an improvement in cerebral blood flow (CBF). The current study examined the effects of estrogen deprivation resulting from ovariectomy on the CBF of rats using the quantitative autoradiographic 14C-iodoantipyrine technique. CBF was assessed in passively restrained, awake adult rats at 6 weeks following ovariectomy (n = 10) or sham surgery (n = 10). Rats demonstrated marked endometrial atrophy and a decrease in uterine weight (mean 78%) in response to ovariectomy. Ovariectomized animals did not differ from control animals both in the magnitude and the topography of cortical or subcortical CBF, including the medial preoptic area, amygdala, arcuate nucleus and anterior hypothalamus, areas previously associated with high estrogen binding. These results suggest that in young, surgically ovariectomized animals, hormonal factors do not significantly contribute to changes in basal CBF.