Article
Astrocytes Mediate Protective Actions of Estrogenic Compounds after Traumatic Brain Injury
Date
2019Registration in:
0028-3835
1423-0194
Author
Martin-Jiménez, Cynthia
Gaitán-Vaca, Diana Milena
Areiza, Natalia
Echeverría, Valentina
Ashraf, Ghulam Md
González, Janneth
Sahebkar, Amirhossein
García-Segura, Luis Miguel
Barreto, George E.
Institutions
Abstract
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a serious public health problem. It may result in severe neurological disabilities and in a variety of cellular metabolic alterations for which available therapeutic strategies are limited. In the last decade, the use of estrogenic compounds, which activate protective mechanisms in astrocytes, has been explored as a potential experimental therapeutic approach. Previous works have suggested estradiol (E2) as a neuroprotective hormone that acts in the brain by binding to estrogen receptors (ERs). Several steroidal and nonsteroidal estrogenic compounds can imitate the effects of estradiol on ERs. These include hormonal estrogens, phytoestrogens and synthetic estrogens, such as selective ER modulators or tibolone. Current evidence of the role of astrocytes in mediating protective actions of estrogenic compounds after TBI is reviewed in this paper. We conclude that the use of estrogenic compounds to modulate astrocytic properties is a promising therapeutic approach for the treatment of TBI. (c) 2018 S. Karger AG, Basel