RATIONALE Nitric oxide (NO) plays an important role in lung development and perinatal lung function, and pulmonary NO synthases (NOS) are decreased in bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) following preterm birth. Fetal estradiol levels increase during late gestation and estradiol up-regulates NOS, suggesting that after preterm birth estradiol deprivation causes attenuated lung NOS resulting in impa...

The association between oral contraceptives or pregnancy and inflammatory bowel disease is unclear. We investigated whether 17beta-estradiol modulates intestinal inflammation in two models of colitis. Female mice were treated with 17beta-estradiol alone or with tamoxifen, tamoxifen alone, 17 alpha-estradiol, or placebo. Dinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (DNB)- or dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced...

The structures of 17β-estradiol (estradiol) and its 1:1 cluster with water have been investigated in supersonic jets. The S(1)-S(0) electronic spectrum of estradiol monomer shows four strong sharp bands in the 35050-35200 cm(-1) region. Ultraviolet-ultraviolet hole-burning (UV-UV HB) and infrared-ultraviolet double-resonance (IR-UV DR) spectra of these bands indicate that they are due to four d...

Reduced nitric oxide synthesis by glomerular endothelial cells and increased proliferation of glomerular mesangial cells is associated with glomerular remodeling that leads to accelerated glomerulosclerosis. Estradiol induces nitric oxide synthesis and slows the progression of renal disease. Because the estradiol metabolites 2-hydroxyestradiol and 2-methoxyestradiol are more potent than estradi...

Estradiol enhances plasticity and survival of the injured brain. Our previous work demonstrates that physiological levels of estradiol protect against cerebral ischemia in the young and aging brain through actions involving estrogen receptors (ERs) and alterations in gene expression. The major goal of this study was to establish mechanisms of neuroprotective actions induced by low levels of est...

Excessive Cl(-) secretion is the driving force for secretory diarrhea. 17β-Estradiol has been shown to inhibit Cl(-) secretion in rat distal colon through a nongenomic pathway. We examined whether 17β-estradiol inhibits Cl(-) secretion in an animal model of secretory diarrhea and the downstream effectors involved. The effect of 17β-estradiol on cholera toxin and heat-stable enterotoxin induced ...

BACKGROUND It is well established that ovarian steroids modulate gonadotropin secretion from anterior pituitary cells. It has been speculated that insulin and IGF-I might influence gonadotropin secretion. OBJECTIVE To investigate the effects of IGF-I and estradiol alone, or combinations of IGF-I with insulin and estradiol on GnRH-stimulated LH release from female rat pituitary cells in serum-...

The presence of estrogen receptor beta and aromatase in the germ cell has highlighted the physiological role of the traditionally female hormone, estrogen, in spermatogenesis. Estrogen receptor alpha knockouts and aromatase knockouts have further accentuated the role of estrogen in germ cell maturation. To delineate the direct action of estrogen in the seminiferous epithelium, we studied the ef...