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Letter to the editor (Scientific journals)

Is brain estradiol a hormone or a neurotransmitter?

Balthazart, Jacques; Ball, G. F.

2006 • In Trends in Neurosciences, 29 (5), p. 241-249

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

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https://hdl.handle.net/2268/11040

DOI
10.1016/j.tins.2006.03.004

PubMed
16580076

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Keywords :

Appetitive Behavior/physiology; Aromatase/metabolism; Brain/enzymology/physiology; Estradiol/physiology; Female; Hormones/physiology; Humans; Intracellular Fluid/metabolism; Male; Neurotransmitter Agents/physiology; Sexual Behavior, Animal/physiology; Signal Transduction/physiology

Abstract :

[en] Mounting evidence indicates that, besides their well-known hormonal mode of action at the genetic level, estrogens such as 17 beta-estradiol also influence brain function by direct effects on neuronal membranes. Experimentally induced rapid changes in estradiol bioavailability in the brain have been shown to alter the expression of male sexual behavior significantly within minutes - probably too quickly to be accounted for by conventional genetic mechanisms. In parallel, recent studies indicate that aromatase, the enzyme that converts testosterone to estradiol in the brain, is expressed in presynaptic terminals and modulated within minutes by Ca2+-dependent phosphorylation. In this article, we develop the hypothesis that brain estrogens display many, if not all, functional characteristics of neuromodulators or even neurotransmitters.

Disciplines :

Neurosciences & behavior

Author, co-author :

Balthazart, Jacques ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences biomédicales et précliniques > Biologie de la différenciation sexuelle du cerveau

Ball, G. F.

Language :

English

Title :

Is brain estradiol a hormone or a neurotransmitter?

Publication date :

May 2006

Journal title :

Trends in Neurosciences

ISSN :

0166-2236

Publisher :

Elsevier Science London, London, United Kingdom

Volume :

29

Issue :

5

Pages :

241-249

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

Available on ORBi :

since 13 April 2009

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Scopus citations^®

344

Scopus citations^®
without self-citations

302

OpenCitations

294

OpenAlex citations

370

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