Perinatal Exposure of Bisphenol A Differently Affects Dendritic Spines of Male and Female Grown-Up Adult Hippocampal Neurons.

Perinatal exposure to Bisphenol A (BPA) at a very low dose may modulate the development of synapses of the hippocampus during growth to adulthood. Here, we demonstrate that perinatal exposure to 30 μg BPA/kg per mother's body weight/day significantly altered the dendritic spines of the grownup rat hippocampus. The density of the spine was analyzed by imaging of Lucifer Yellow-injected CA1 glutamatergic neurons in adult hippocampal slices.

Comparison between hippocampus-synthesized and circulation-derived sex steroids in the hippocampus.

Estradiol (E2) and other sex steroids play essential roles in the modulation of synaptic plasticity and neuroprotection in the hippocampus. To clarify the mechanisms for these events, it is important to determine the respective role of circulating vs. locally produced sex steroids in the male hippocampus.

Comparison of sex-steroid synthesis between neonatal and adult rat hippocampus.

Sex-steroid synthesis in the hippocampus had been thought to be much more active at the neonatal stage than at the adult stage. However, the detailed comparison between these two stages had not been demonstrated yet. Here we performed the comparison about the mRNA level of steroidogenic enzymes and the rate of steroid metabolism between these two stages of the hippocampus.