Loading…

Effects of surgical and chemical castration on spatial learning ability in relation to cell proliferation and apoptosis in hippocampus

Purpose Chemical castration using luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone agonists and/or anti-androgens is an alternative to surgical castration. Goserelin and bicalutamide are representative drugs used for chemical castration. The effects of chemical castration on sexual functions are well documente...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:International urology and nephrology 2016-04, Vol.48 (4), p.517-527
Main Authors: Shin, Mal-Soon, Chung, Kyung Jin, Ko, Il-Gyu, Kim, Sang-Hoon, Jin, Jun-Jang, Kim, Sung-Eun, Lee, Jae-Min, Ji, Eun-Sang, Kim, Tae-Woon, Cho, Han-Sam, Kim, Chang Hee, Cho, Young-Sam, Kim, Chang-Ju, Kim, Khae-Hawn
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Purpose Chemical castration using luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone agonists and/or anti-androgens is an alternative to surgical castration. Goserelin and bicalutamide are representative drugs used for chemical castration. The effects of chemical castration on sexual functions are well documented; however, the possibility that chemical castration might induce undesirable effects on brain functions has been raised. We investigated the effects of chemical castration and surgical castration on spatial learning ability in relation to cell proliferation and apoptosis in hippocampus. Methods Bilateral orchiectomy was performed for surgical castration, and chemical castration was induced by treatment with goserelin or bicalutamide for 28 days. To find out the effects of goserelin and bicalutamide with those of orchiectomy on the spatial learning ability, radial eight-arm maze test was performed. To find out the effects of goserelin and bicalutamide with those of orchiectomy in relation to cell proliferation and apoptosis in the hippocampus, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling staining, and immunohistochemistry for 5-bromo-2′-deoxyuridine, doublecortin, and caspase-3 were performed. Western blot for brain-derived neurotrophic factor, tyrosine kinase receptor B, Bax, and Bcl-2 in the hippocampus was also performed. Results Orchiectomy caused deterioration of spatial learning ability with suppression of cell proliferation and enhancement of apoptosis in the hippocampus. However, treatment with goserelin and bicalutamide had no effect on spatial learning ability. Cell proliferation and apoptosis were not altered by treatment with goserelin and bicalutamide either. Conclusions Surgical castration causes deterioration of spatial learning ability, while chemical castration does not impair spatial learning ability. We should find out further mechanisms affect to the relationship between androgen level and neurogenesis and neuronal apoptosis.
ISSN:0301-1623
1573-2584
DOI:10.1007/s11255-015-1200-0