Estrogen Increases Mitochondrial Efficiency in Cerebral Blood Vessels

Main Category: Endocrinology
Article Date: 04 Apr 2005 - 16:00 PDT


UCI researchers show for first time that estrogen has an effect on mitochondria in the cells of blood vessels, specifically blood vessels from the brain.

They also showed estrogen receptors in the mitochondria. They found that after estrogen treatment, the mitochondria could produce energy more efficiently with lower amounts of damaging free radicals - a problem during aging. They believe that the novel mechanism of estrogen action may help explain why pre-menopausal women have a lower incidence of stoke than men of the same age.

Chris Stirone1, Vincent Procaccio2, Sue P. Duckles1, Diana N. Krause1. 1Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, 2Center for Molecular and Mitochondrial Medicine and Genetics. Physiology 909.18.

Funding: NIH

The 35th Congress of the International Union of Physiological Sciences is in San Diego, March 31 - April 5, 2005. The Congress (http://www.iups2005.org) is organized by the six member societies of the U.S. National Committee of the IUPS, the American Physiological Society, the Society for Neuroscience, the Microcirculatory Society, the Society of General Physiologists, the Biomedical Engineering Society, and the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, under the auspices of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.

The IUPS conference, held every four years, runs concurrently this year with Experimental Biology 2005 at the San Diego Convention Center.

Abstracts for all presentations may be accessed through a complete searchable online program at faseb.org/meetings/eb2005/call/default.htm covering both IUPS and Experimental Biology 2005, which is being held concurrently.

The American Physiological Society (APS), which is hosting IUPS, was founded in 1887 to foster basic and applied science, much of it relating to human health. The Bethesda, MD-based Society has more than 10,000 members and publishes nearly 4,000 articles every year in its 14 peer-reviewed journals. In May, APS received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM).

Contact: Mayer Resnick
mresnick@the-aps.org
301-332-4402 (cell)
619-525-6228 (Telephone)
301-634-7209 (office, outside IUPS dates)
The American Physiological Society
http://www.the-aps.org

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