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Department of Anatomy, University of Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, D-23538 Lübeck, Germany
¹ Department of Clinical and Experimental Endocrinology, University of Göttingen, 37075 Göttingen, Germany

(Requests for offprints should be addressed to M Böttner; Email: boettner{at}anat.uni-luebeck.de)

^* (M Böttner and J Christoffel contributed equally to this work)

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) has been used for several decades to treat menopausal discomforts. However, in the light of recent studies that draw attention to the potential hazards of conventional HRT, various attempts have been undertaken to search for alternatives to classical HRT. Phytoestrogens are claimed to be capable of positively influencing menopausal symptoms, including hot flushes. We designed a long-term study of 3 months to assess the effects of subcutaneous and orally fed 17ß-estradiol (E2), as well as the actions of resveratrol (RES) on pituitary function in female rats. Our results have demonstrated that RES binds with a 10-fold lower affinity to estrogen receptor (ER)- than to ERß. The data from the in vivo study revealed that a dosage of 5 µg and 50 µg RES/kg bodyweight per day given to ovariectomized (OVX) rats achieved serum levels of 1.0 and 8.1 µM respectively. Long-term treatment of OVX rats with RES revealed no estrogenic potential on pituitary function in vivo as assessed by LH and prolactin secretion and by regulation of mRNAs for LH, LHß, and GnRH receptor. Subcutaneous treatment with E2 in silastic capsules exerted stronger effects on LH and prolactin secretion, as well as on LHß, LH, GnRH receptor, and ERß mRNA regulation compared with orally applied estradiol benzoate despite comparable serum levels. Levels of aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) mRNA in the pituitary were increased following OVX and attenuated by long-term E2 treatment, whereas RES did not modulate AhR mRNA expression.

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