Effects of Estrogen Replacement Therapy on Cholinergic Basal Forebrain Neurons and Cortical Cholinergic Innervation in Young and Aged Ovariectomized Rhesus Monkeys
Document Type
Article
Abstract
Estrogen modulates the function of cholinergic basal forebrain neurons in aged female rats. The present study tested the hypothesis that estrogen enhances the phenotype of cholinergic basal forebrain neurons and their cortical cholinergic innervation in young adult and aged ovariectomized rhesus monkeys. Sixteen monkeys (9 young and 7 aged) received two injections of estradiol cypionate or vehicle separated by 3 weeks. All monkeys were killed 1 day after the last injection. Quantitative immunofluorescence in the vertical limb of the diagonal band (VLDB) revealed enhanced optical density for choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) in both young and aged monkeys treated with estrogen. In contrast, optical density for low-affinity p75 neurotrophin receptor immunoreactivity in the VLDB did not change after estrogen treatment in either aged or young animals. Quantitative immunofluorescence for either ChAT or the low-affinity p75 neurotrophin receptor in the nucleus basalis Meynert failed to reveal differences between vehicle and estrogen treatment in either age group. Quantitative estimates of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) fiber density revealed that estrogen-treated aged monkeys but not their younger counterparts had decreased numbers of AChE-positive fibers in layer II of frontal, insular, and cingulate cortices. These data indicate that estrogen administered in a manner simulating natural hormonal cyclicity produces modest age-specific chemical phenotypic and regional changes in select neuronal subfields of the cholinergic basal forebrain and their cortical projection sites in nonhuman primates. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Keywords
AChE, ChAT-ir and p75 -ir NTR, Estradiol
Publication Date
4-26-2004
Publication Title
Journal of Comparative Neurology
ISSN
00219967
Volume
472
Issue
2
First Page
193
Last Page
207
PubMed ID
15048687
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.1002/cne.20050
Recommended Citation
Kompoliti, Katie; Chu, Yaping; Polish, Ari; Roberts, Jeffrey; McKay, Heather; Mufson, Elliott J.; Leurgans, Sue; Morrison, John H.; and Kordower, Jeffrey H., "Effects of Estrogen Replacement Therapy on Cholinergic Basal Forebrain Neurons and Cortical Cholinergic Innervation in Young and Aged Ovariectomized Rhesus Monkeys" (2004). Translational Neuroscience. 1794.
https://scholar.barrowneuro.org/neurobiology/1794