Foy Michael R, Baudry Michel, Foy Judith G, Thompson Richard F
Department of Psychology, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA 90045, USA.
Behav Neurosci. 2008 Apr;122(2):301-9. doi: 10.1037/0735-7044.122.2.301.
The female steroid hormone 17beta-estradiol enhances synaptic transmission and the magnitude of longterm potentiation (LTP) in adult rodent hippocampal slices. Long-term depression (LTD), another form of synaptic plasticity, occurs more prominently in hippocampal slices from aged rodents. A decrease in LTP has been recorded in hippocampal slices from adult rodents behaviorally stressed just before tissue preparation and electrophysiological recording. Here, the authors test the hypothesis that estrogen modifies synaptic plasticity in both adult and aged rodents, whether behaviorally stressed or not. Our results indicate that estrogen enhances LTP and attenuates LTD, thus producing a protective effect against both aging and stress. These results also provide new approaches that can be used to reverse age and stress-related learning and memory dysfunction.
雌性甾体激素17β-雌二醇可增强成年啮齿动物海马切片中的突触传递及长时程增强（LTP）的幅度。长时程抑制（LTD）是另一种形式的突触可塑性，在老年啮齿动物的海马切片中更为显著。在组织制备和电生理记录前受到行为应激的成年啮齿动物的海马切片中，已记录到LTP的降低。在此，作者检验了雌激素是否会改变成年和老年啮齿动物（无论是否受到行为应激）的突触可塑性这一假设。我们的结果表明，雌激素增强LTP并减弱LTD，从而对衰老和应激均产生保护作用。这些结果还提供了可用于逆转与年龄和应激相关的学习和记忆功能障碍的新方法。
