SHORT-TERM DIABETES IN THE BRAIN: EFFECTS ON NEUROACTIVE STEROIDS, CHOLESTEROL HOMEOSTASIS, AND MITOCHONDRIAL FUNCTIONALITY
January 2017
in “
Archivio Istituzionale della Ricerca (Universita Degli Studi Di Milano)
”
TLDR Short-term diabetes can cause changes in brain steroids, cholesterol balance, and mitochondrial function.
The study investigated the effects of short-term diabetes on neuroactive steroids, cholesterol homeostasis, and mitochondrial functionality in the brain, specifically in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex of diabetic rats. After one month of diabetes, alterations in the levels of neuroactive steroids such as pregnenolone, progesterone, and testosterone were observed in these brain regions, although these changes were not fully mirrored in plasma levels. The research highlighted that short-term diabetes affected the steroidogenic machinery, with changes in the expression of genes like steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR) and cytochrome P450 side chain cleavage (P450scc) in the hippocampus, while only StAR was down-regulated in the cerebral cortex. Additionally, there was an impairment in cholesterol homeostasis and mitochondrial dysfunction in both brain areas, indicating that short-term diabetes could lead to significant neurophysiological changes.
