Protective effects of testosterone on presynaptic terminals against oligomeric β-amyloid peptide in primary culture of hippocampal neurons.

ABSTRACT: Increasing lines of evidence support that testosterone may have neuroprotective effects. While observational studies reported an association between higher bioavailable testosterone or brain testosterone levels and reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD), there is limited understanding of the underlying neuroprotective mechanisms. Previous studies demonstrated that testosterone could alleviate neurotoxicity induced by β-amyloid (Aβ), but these findings mainly focused on neuronal apoptosis. Since synaptic dysfunction and degeneration are early events during the pathogenesis of AD, we aim to investigate the effects of testosterone on oligomeric Aβ-induced synaptic changes. Our data suggested that exposure of primary cultured hippocampal neurons to oligomeric Aβ could reduce the length of ne

SUBMITTER: Lau CF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4086619 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature