Female rodents producing endogenous estrogens are protected from stroke damage in comparison with male counterparts. This natural protection is lost after ovariectomy or reproductive senescence. The aim of this study is to determine whether estrogen reduces early neuronal injury and cell loss after ischemia by increasing the expression of Bcl-2. Male, intact female, ovariectomized, and estrogen...

The neural mechanisms controlling sexual behavior are sexually differentiated by perinatal actions of gonadal hormones. We recently observed using female mice deficient in alpha-fetoprotein (AFP-KO) and which lack the protective actions of AFP against maternal estrogens, that exposure to prenatal estrogens completely defeminized their potential to show lordosis behavior in adulthood. Therefore,...