Estrogens and relationship jealousy

The relation between sex hormones and responses to partner infidelity was explored in two studies reported here. The first confirmed the standard sex difference in relationship jealousy, that males (n=133) are relatively more distressed by a partner’s sexual infidelity and females (n=159) by a partner’s emotional infidelity. The study also revealed that females using hormone-based birth control (n=61) tended more toward sexual jealousy than did other females, and reported more intense affective responses to partner infidelity (n=77). In study two, 47 females were assessed four times across one month. Patterns of response to partner infidelity did not vary by week of menstrual cycle, but significant relations between salivary estradiol level and jealousy responses were obtained during the time of rising and high fertility risk. The implications, at least for females, are that any evolved psychological, affective, or behavioral dispositions regarding reproduction-related relationships are potentially moderated by estradiol, and that the use of synthetic hormones may disrupt this relation. David C. Geary is the Frederick A. Middlebush Professor of Psychological Sciences at the University of Missouri at Columbia. He has published nearly 100 articles and chapters across a wide range of topics, including cognitive and developmental psychology, education, evolutionary biology, and medicine. His two books, Children’s Mathematical Development (1984) and Male, Female: The Evolution of Human Sex Differences (1988), have been published by the American Psychological Association. M. Catherine DeSoto recently completed her Ph.D. in psychological sciences at the University of Missouri at Columbia and is currently assistant professor of psychobiology at the University of Northern Iowa. Her research primarily focuses on the interface between biology and behavior, including the relation between sex hormones and personality disorders. Mary K. Hoard is completing her Ph.D. studies in psychological sciences at the University of Missouri at Columbia and is currently a research specialist in the Department of Psychological Sciences. Her research interests focus on children’s cognitive development, as well as the relation between sleep and cognitive and psychological functioning. Melanie Skaggs Sheldon is a graduate student in the Department of Psychological Sciences at the University of Missouri at Columbia. Her research interests include social cooperation, sexual behavior, and personality, as understood from an evolutionary perspective. M. Lynne Cooper is a professor of psychological sciences and director of the training program in social psychology at the University of Missouri at Columbia. She is an associate editor of the Journal of Personality and the author of more than 60 articles and chapters in the areas of personality and social psychology. Her primary research efforts involve directing a longitudinal study of risky sexual behavior of adolescents and young adults.     

Estrogens and male reproduction

Aromatase is the terminal enzyme responsible for estrogen biosynthesis; it is present in the endoplasmic reticulum membrane of steroidogenic cells in vertebrates. The aromatase gene is unique and its expression is regulated in a tissue- and more precisely, in a cell-specific manner via the alternative use of various promoters located in the first exons. The aromatase gene expression, and its transduction in a fully active protein not only in somatic cells but also in germ cells of rodent testes on one hand, and the widespread distribution of estrogen receptors (ER alpha and ER beta) in the genital tract of the male on the other hand, are clearly in favour of a physiological role for estrogens in the regulation of mammalian testicular functions. Moreover, the aromatase deficiency is associated for instance with severe bone maturation problems and sterility in mouse and man; but conversely, it is well known that estrogens in excess are responsible for the impairment of spermatogenesis. Therefore these female hormones (or the androgens/estrogens ratio) play a physiological role in the development and maintenance of male gonadal functions and seem to control especially the spermatid production (both qualitative and quantitative aspects) and epididymal sperm maturation.     

Estrogens and male reproduction

The role of estrogen on male reproductive function has become clearer in the last decade. During these years the study of the effect of testosterone, estrogen or an aromatase inhibitor in hypogonadal men provided a first evidence of the effects of estrogens in the regulation of gonadotropin secretion. At the same time, the development of a line of transgenic male mice lacking estrogen receptor α, estrogen receptor β or aromatase gene provided further evidence about the role of estrogens not only in the regulation of gonadotropin secretion, but also on the effects of estrogens on testicular function and development. A confirmation of these actions of estrogens came from the observation of naturally occurring mutations of the estrogen receptor and of the aromatase gene in human males. Based on these data it has been demonstrated that estrogens are major regulators of gonadotropin secretion acting both at pituitary and hypotalamic level. The presence in the human reproductive structures of estrogen receptor α, estrogen receptor β and the aromatase enzyme indicates the existence of receptor α, estrogen receptor β or aromatase estrogen actions at this level. Anyway, the precise role of estrogens in testicular development and function and on the regulation of human spermatogenesis has not yet been precisely clarified.     

Estrogens and the diabetic kidney

Background: Across all ages, the incidence and rate of progression of most nondiabetic renal diseases are markedly higher in men compared with age-matched women. These observations suggest that female sex may be renoprotective. In the setting of diabetes, however, this female protection against the development and progression of renal disease is diminished.Objective: This review aimed to summarize our current understanding of sex differences in the development and progression of diabetic renal disease, and of the contribution of sex hormones, particularly estrogens, to the pathophysiology of this disease. We also attempted to answer why female sex does not protect the diabetic kidney.Methods: Using terms such as gender, sex, diabetes, diabetic nephropathy, estrogens, and sex hormones, the PubMed database was searched for English-language articles; targeted searches were conducted using terms such as gender/sex differences in diabetic renal disease. No restrictions were imposed on publication dates.Results: Although the existing data regarding the sex differences in the incidence and progression of diabetic renal disease are inconclusive, the undisputed fact is that women with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes mellitus exhibit a much higher incidence of renal disease compared with nondiabetic women. It is conceivable that the loss of female sex as a renoprotective factor in diabetes may be related to the abnormal regulation of sex hormone concentrations. Both clinical and experimental data suggest that diabetes may be associated with an imbalance in estradiol concentrations. Supplementation with 17β-estradiol or administration of selective estrogen receptor modulators reduces the incidence of diabetes and attenuates the progression of diabetic renal disease.Conclusions: Serum concentrations of ovarian hormones may provide a new means for predicting future risk of renal complications in diabetes. Exogenous steroid hormones may be an effective treatment for attenuating the progression of diabetic nephropathy.     

Estrogens and bladder outlet obstruction

Increasing evidence indicates a direct interrelationship between benign prostatic hyperplasia and chronic non-bacterial prostatic inflammation in the development of human voiding dysfunction in aging male, which gradually transforms to bladder outlet obstruction (BOO). Increased prevalence of BOO along with the aging process further suggests that estrogen or more precisely decreased androgen to estrogen ratio in serum is involved in the pathogenesis of BOO. In this review, we will analyze the hormonal causes, clinical relevance, and biologically relevant estrogen-modulated animal models potential for BOO study. In light of the data presented in this review, it becomes apparent that direct inhibition of estrogen action may provide important pharmaceutical treatment of the BOO.     

Estrogens in calf embryos

A particular technique has been restated for the analysis of extradiol and extrones. Availing ourselves of such a technique, we have determined the presence of the steroid hormones, extradiol and extrones, in the calf embryos. The above studies are framed within the sphere of the researches made in our Institute, having the scope of determining the biological effects and the chemical composition of the calf embryos, which is utilized like a commercial product in some other Nations.     

Estrogens, antiestrogens and cell proliferation

The classical estrogen receptor model does not sufficiently account for the tumor-promoting activity of estrogens or for the antiproliferative effect of anti-estrogens in estrogen-dependent tumors. Particular difficulties not readily accommodated within the model are that hormonal autonomy can supervene without loss of the estrogen receptor and that antiestrogen effects are highly context-dependent, without apparent differences in the estrogen receptor itself or in metabolic transformation of antiestrogens. Recent studies suggest that estrogens may promote cell proliferation, in part, through the mediation of growth factors and that antiestrogens may exert some of their effects by mechanisms unrelated to the estrogen receptor.     

环境雌激素对动物的影响与对策

环境雌激素可导致动物性别特征丧失、生殖能力下降,引起性别比例失调,导致种群生存力和资源量下降,并通过食物链的生物放大作用等加强对动物危害,提出环境雌激素预防与控制对策。     

Estrogens,MSI and Lynch syndrome-associated tumors

Estrogens play a major role in the biology of hormone-responsive tissues but also in the normal physiology of various non-typical hormone-responsive tissues. In disease, estrogens have been associated with tumor development, in particular with tumors such as breast, endometrium, ovary and prostate.