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POST‐MORTEM STABILITY OF PROGESTERONE IN RAT BRAIN
Author(s) -
Bixo MARIE,
BÄCkstrÖM TORBJÖRN,
Cajander STEFAN,
Winblad BENGT
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
acta pathologica microbiologica scandinavica series a :pathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.909
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1600-0463
pISSN - 0108-0164
DOI - 10.1111/j.1699-0463.1986.tb02998.x
Subject(s) - hypothalamus , hippocampus , medicine , endocrinology , human brain , cerebral cortex , biology , chemistry , neuroscience
Progesterone concentrations in the brains of female rats kept at +20°C or +4°C for 0 to 48 hours after death were investigated. After two hours at +20°C the progesterone concentration in seven studied brain areas were equal to that in control brains (dissected immediately after death). After four hours at +20°C, levels decreased significantly in three brain regions. Intact rats that were placed in a refrigerator (+4°C) after four hours at room temperature (+20°C) showed no further changes in brain progesterone concentration. In the control group, the cerebral cortex, the hypothalamus and the hippocampus contained progesterone levels significantly higher than in all other areas (p < 0.05). After four hours at room temperature only the hypothalamus showed higher levels (p < 0.05). In conclusion, time after death and storage temperature affect the post‐mortem levels of progesterone. Because of their differences in body masses, the conditions in the rat brain are not comparable to those in the human brain. However, it might be possible to study the regional distribution of progesterone in the human brain if control cases matched with regard to post‐mortal time and brain temperature are used.