PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Synthetic estrogen associated with increased anxiety-like behaviors in a rat model

2024-06-01
(Press-News.org) BOSTON—The type of estrogen in hormonal birth control may influence anxiety-like behaviors, according to data presented by Abigail Hegwood, M.S., from the Prakapenka Lab at ENDO 2024, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Boston, Mass.

“It is plausible that estrogen type is a key player in mood or cognitive related side effects of hormone-based contraceptive use,” said Alesia Prakapenka, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Biomedical Sciences program at Midwestern University in Downers Grove, Ill.

According to the CDC, 12.6% of women in the United States between the ages of 15 and 49 reported using oral contraceptives from 2015 to 2017. Prakapenka and colleagues acknowledged that behavioral side effects are one of the reasons why many women stop taking combination birth control.

The researchers sought to understand whether or not identifying an estrogen type matters when it comes to evaluating behaviors like anxiety and cognition.

In this rat model study, the researchers randomly assigned 36 young adult female rats (aged 3 to 4 months old) to synthetic ethinyl estradiol plus dienogest, natural estradiol valerate plus dienogest, or vehicle control treatment.

After 4 weeks, the rats were evaluated on a delayed spontaneous alternation task to examine spatial memory and elevated plus maze to analyze anxiety-like behavior.

Then, Prakapenka explained, serum was extracted and examined for estradiol, progesterone, androstenedione, and testosterone levels using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and corticosterone levels using radioimmunoassay.

“We found that female rats treated with the synthetic estrogen exhibited elevated anxiety-like behaviors compared to females that received a vehicle control or the natural estrogen,” Prakapenka said, adding that spatial memory was similar across the three treatment groups.

Of note, navigation on the spatial memory task differed. The synthetic estrogen increased habitual turn strategy use compared to the control and natural estrogen–a finding that is associated with anxiety-like behaviors.

“Altogether, our findings support the notion that estrogen type matters for behavioral outcomes associated with contraceptive use, identifying estrogen type as a potential clinical tool for management of behavioral side effects in females,” Hegwood said.

###

Endocrinologists are at the core of solving the most pressing health problems of our time, from diabetes and obesity to infertility, bone health, and hormone-related cancers. The Endocrine Society is the world’s oldest and largest organization of scientists devoted to hormone research and physicians who care for people with hormone-related conditions.

The Society has more than 18,000 members, including scientists, physicians, educators, nurses and students in 122 countries. To learn more about the Society and the field of endocrinology, visit our site at www.endocrine.org. Follow us on Twitter at @TheEndoSociety and @EndoMedia.

END


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Revolutionizing robotics: A breakthrough in soft actuator technology

Revolutionizing robotics: A breakthrough in soft actuator technology
2024-06-01
In an era where robotics are increasingly becoming a part of everyday life, a significant breakthrough has been made by a team of researchers at Zhe jiang University, China. Their latest creation, a wrist-inspired soft actuator capable of bidirectional torsion, promises to transform the landscape of soft robotics. The innovative design of this actuator, described in detail in the journal Cyborg Bionic Systems, is inspired by the human wrist's ability to perform complex movements. Unlike traditional robotic mechanisms that rely on rigid components, this soft actuator utilizes a magneto-pneumatic hybrid system combined with a Kresling origami structure. This design allows for an astonishing ...

Huazhong University unveils breakthrough in rapid topology identification for complex networks

Huazhong University unveils breakthrough in rapid topology identification for complex networks
2024-06-01
Researchers from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, in collaboration with the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior at Radboud University, have developed a revolutionary method for the rapid identification of network topologies. Their new approach, detailed in a recent publication in Cyborg Bionic Systems, significantly accelerates the process of understanding complex dynamical networks, which are crucial in numerous applications ranging from power grids to transportation systems. The innovative method, named Finite-Time Topology Identification of Delayed Complex Dynamical Networks (FT-TIDCN), leverages finite-time stability ...

Prediabetes raises Mexicans’ risk of dying prematurely of heart or kidney disease

2024-06-01
BOSTON—Prediabetes increases the risk of dying before age 75, particularly due to heart disease, kidney disease and acute diabetic complications, according to a new study presented Saturday at ENDO 2024, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Boston, Mass. “Prediabetes is well known to increase the risk of developing diabetes; however, information about other complications of prediabetes in Latin America was limited before this study,” said study researcher Carlos Fermin-Martinez, M.D., of the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City, Mexico. He is also with the National Institute of Geriatrics in Mexico ...

GLP-1 has the power to change taste sensitivity in women with obesity

2024-06-01
BOSTON—Semaglutide improved taste sensitivity, changed gene expression in the tongue that’s responsible for taste perception, and changed the brain’s response to sweet tastes, according to research presented Saturday at ENDO 2024, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Boston, Mass. “People with obesity often perceive tastes less ‘intensely,’ and they have an inherently elevated desire for sweet and energy-dense food,” said Mojca Jensterle Sever, Ph.D., of the University Medical Centre in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Jensterle Sever and colleagues designed a proof-of-concept study on the impact of GLP-1 ...

Race and social vulnerability impact glycemic control in people with diabetes

2024-06-01
BOSTON—People of color and those who experience social vulnerability are more likely to experience worse glycemic control than their white counterparts, according to research presented Sunday at ENDO 2024, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Boston, Mass. “As of 2021, 29.7 million people were living with diabetes, contributing to significant morbidity across the population. Despite advances in diabetic care, marginalized populations bear an increased burden of diabetic complications,” said study author Jennifer Tich, M.D., from Internal Medicine-Pediatrics R3 at the University of Rochester in Rochester, N.Y. Tich and colleagues identified ...

Higher blood concentrations of testosterone are associated with reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes in men under 65

2024-06-01
BOSTON—Testosterone appears protective against developing type 2 diabetes in men who are overweight or obese and under age 65, but not in men over that age, according to a study presented Saturday at ENDO 2024, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Boston, Mass. “A low blood testosterone concentration is an independent risk factor for developing type 2 diabetes, and high levels of testosterone appear protective against the development of type 2 diabetes,” said lead researcher ...

Lowering fecal immunochemical test positivity threshold vs multitarget stool RNA testing for colorectal cancer screening

2024-06-01
About The Study: This study found that comparable levels of sensitivity and specificity as reported for the multitarget stool RNA (mt-sRNA) test in the colorectal cancer (CRC)-PREVENT study could be achieved by lowering the fecal immunochemical test positivity threshold, without additional mt-sRNA testing. The findings are similar to previous observations for multitarget stool DNA testing. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Hermann Brenner, M.D., M.P.H., email h.brenner@dkfz.de. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website ...

Revolutionary brain-to-brain technology boosts brain-computer interface performance

Revolutionary brain-to-brain technology boosts brain-computer interface performance
2024-06-01
A groundbreaking study from Tsinghua University in collaboration with Imperial College London has unveiled a novel technique that significantly enhances brain-computer interface (BCI) systems by integrating brain-to-brain interactions among users. This innovative approach, detailed in a new study published in the journal Cyborg Bionic Systems, demonstrates the potential for improved BCI performance in applications such as rehabilitation and multitasking devices. The research, led by Dr. Tianyu Jia and a team of interdisciplinary scientists, explored the effects of social interactions, ...

Insurance often denies GLP-1 medications for teens with type 2 diabetes, obesity

2024-06-01
BOSTON—Health insurance companies often deny coverage for new medications that treat children and teens with obesity and type 2 diabetes, meaning many patients who need treatment are unable to afford it, according to a study presented at ENDO 2024, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Boston, Mass. The medications, called GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP1Ra), are often denied despite being approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, especially if children do not have type 2 diabetes, the researchers found. GLP1Ra drugs include liraglutide (Victoza, Saxenda). The researchers ...

Childhood stress linked with earlier substance use in male and female teens

2024-06-01
BOSTON—Stress during childhood is associated with earlier substance use in male and female adolescents, according to a study presented Saturday at ENDO 2024, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Boston, Mass. Traumatic events may increase substance use risk for males, while environmental stress and early puberty may increase the risk for females, the researchers found. Early life stress is children’s experiences of abuse, neglect and conflict. Approximately 20% of adolescents in the United States have experienced early life stress at some point, and these experiences ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

A 'Rosetta Stone' for molecular systems

What goes up must come down – scientists unearth “universal thermal performance curve” that shackles evolution

Physical activity increases total daily energy use, study shows

National study finds public Montessori programs strengthens early learning outcomes -- at sharply lower costs compared to traditional preschool

National poll: 1 in 10 young children play outdoors as little as once a week

How do people learn new facts?

Exploring how storytelling strategies shape memories

How people process mental images versus real-life visuals 

Blood test could help predict blood pressure after weight loss surgery in teens

Ultra-endurance athletes test the metabolic limits of the human body

Revealing the 'carbon hoofprint' of meat consumption for American cities

Like radar, a brain wave sweeps a cortical region to read out information held in working memory

Resistance to epilepsy treatments may wane over time

Precision reprogramming: How AI tricks cancer’s toughest cells

US physician Medicare program participation and exit, 2013-2023

A direct-to-patient digital health program for lung cancer screening

Belgian scientists discover how cells protect our skin from inflammatory disease – paving the way for new treatments

Effectiveness of colchicine for the treatment of long COVID

Distance to care and telehealth abortion demand after Dobbs

Epidural electrical stimulation for functional recovery in incomplete spinal cord injury

Transformative eye research expands donor pool for corneal transplant patients

Retinal implant restores central vision in patients with advanced AMD, study co-led by Pitt investigator shows

Eye prosthesis is the first to restore sight lost to macular degeneration

Pioneering eye device restores reading vision to blind eyes

Subretinal implant partially restores vision in AMD patients

3D printed antenna arrays developed for flexible wireless systems

When is the brain like a subway station? When it’s processing many words at once

Important phenomenon discovered in the Arctic – could boost marine life

New white paper urges policymakers to modernize practice laws to unlock AI’s full potential in healthcare

Unmasking the culprits of battery failure with a graphene mesosponge

[Press-News.org] Synthetic estrogen associated with increased anxiety-like behaviors in a rat model