Histochemical and biochemical study of the production and function of neurosteroid

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To elucidate the physiological role of neurosteroids that are produced in the central nervous system, we analyzed the expression of steroid synthesizing enzymes in the choroid plexus with RT-PCR. The results showed that several enzymes were expressed in the choroid plexus epithelial cells. The concentration of steroid hormones in cerebrospinal fluid is much lower than that in blood plasma, the steroidogenic enzymes expressed in the choroid plexus may play roles in homeostasis of steroids in the cerebrospinal fluid. We examined the effect of ovariectomy on hippocampal neural cell death of rats which were under heavy physical stress. The results showed that the nerve cells decreased in number by the stress in ovariectomized Fisher rat, but not in Wistar ones. There might be a lineage difference for neuronal cell viability in the rat under a combination of stress and estrogen deficiency.