PMID- 12006783
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20020611
LR  - 20220408
IS  - 0028-3835 (Print)
IS  - 0028-3835 (Linking)
VI  - 75
IP  - 5
DP  - 2002 May
TI  - Sex hormone receptors are present in the human suprachiasmatic nucleus.
PG  - 296-305
AB  - The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is the clock of the brain that orchestrates 
      circadian and circannual biological rhythms, such as the rhythms of hormones, 
      body temperature, sleep and mood. These rhythms are frequently disturbed in 
      menopause and even more so in dementia and can be restored in postmenopausal 
      women by sex hormone replacement therapy (SHRT). Although it seems clear, both 
      from clinical and experimental studies, that sex hormones influence circadian 
      rhythms, it is not known whether this is by a direct or an indirect effect on the 
      SCN. Therefore, using immunocytochemistry in the present study, we investigated 
      whether the human SCN expresses sex hormone receptors in 5 premenopausal women 
      and 5 young men. SCN neurons appeared to contain estrogen receptor-alpha 
      (ERalpha), estrogen receptor-beta (ERbeta) and progesterone receptors. Median 
      ratings of ER immunoreactivity per individual and per gender group revealed a 
      statistically significantly stronger nuclear ERalpha expression pattern in female 
      SCN neurons (p < 0.05). No significant sexual dimorphic tendency was observed for 
      nuclear ERbeta (p > 0.1) and progesterone receptors (p > 0.7). These data seem to 
      support previously reported functional and structural SCN differences in relation 
      to sex and sexual orientation and indicate for the first time that estrogen and 
      progesterone may act directly on neurons of the human biological clock. In 
      addition, the present findings provide a potential neuroendocrine mechanism by 
      which SHRT can act to improve or restore SCN-related rhythm disturbances, such as 
      body temperature, sleep and mood.
CI  - Copyright 2002 S. Karger AG, Basel
FAU - Kruijver, Frank P M
AU  - Kruijver FP
AD  - Graduate School Neurosciences Amsterdam, Netherlands Institute for Brain 
      Research, The Netherlands. f.kruijver@nih.knaw.nl
FAU - Swaab, Dick F
AU  - Swaab DF
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PL  - Switzerland
TA  - Neuroendocrinology
JT  - Neuroendocrinology
JID - 0035665
RN  - 0 (Estrogen Receptor alpha)
RN  - 0 (Estrogen Receptor beta)
RN  - 0 (Receptors, Estrogen)
RN  - 0 (Receptors, Progesterone)
SB  - IM
MH  - Adult
MH  - Cell Nucleus/metabolism
MH  - Estrogen Receptor alpha
MH  - Estrogen Receptor beta
MH  - Female
MH  - Humans
MH  - Immunohistochemistry
MH  - Male
MH  - Receptors, Estrogen/*metabolism
MH  - Receptors, Progesterone/*metabolism
MH  - Sex Characteristics
MH  - Suprachiasmatic Nucleus/*metabolism
EDAT- 2002/05/15 10:00
MHDA- 2002/06/12 10:01
CRDT- 2002/05/15 10:00
PHST- 2002/05/15 10:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2002/06/12 10:01 [medline]
PHST- 2002/05/15 10:00 [entrez]
AID - 57339 [pii]
AID - 10.1159/000057339 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Neuroendocrinology. 2002 May;75(5):296-305. doi: 10.1159/000057339.