Open AccessModulation of antioxidant enzyme activities by sexual steroid hormones
Author(s) -
Pajović Sb,
Zorica S. Saičić
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
physiological research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.647
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1802-9973
pISSN - 0862-8408
DOI - 10.33549/physiolres.931377
Subject(s) - hormone , glutathione peroxidase , superoxide dismutase , antioxidant , steroid , glutathione reductase , glutathione , medicine , central nervous system , endocrinology , enzyme , biology , catalase , biochemistry
Taking into consideration the biological importance of interactionbetween antioxidant defense (AD) enzymes and sexual steroidhormones it was deemed important to compare our recentachievements in the field with the state of current knowledge.The main goal of the present review was to investigate thechanges of AD enzyme activities: superoxide dismutases,catalase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione-S-transferase andglutathione reductase in the brain of female and male ratsdepending on progesterone and estradiol. These ovarian steroidsproduce their effects by acting on numerous target tissues andorgans, such as the reproductive organs, bone tissue andcartilage, peripheral blood vessels and the central nervoussystem (CNS). We have chosen it as a new parameter that mightrepresent an important indicator of the changes within the CNS,bearing in mind the biological importance of the enzymes of theAD system. Our experimental results indicate that the AD enzymeactivities in the brain tissue of female and male rats show acertain dependence on the concentration of progesterone andestradiol. The present review suggests that the modulation of theoxidative and antioxidative capacity by sexual steroid hormones ismediated through antioxidant metabolizing enzymes.