1
|
Rinaudo M, Natale F, La Greca F, Spinelli M, Farsetti A, Paciello F, Fusco S, Grassi C. Hippocampal Estrogen Signaling Mediates Sex Differences in Retroactive Interference. Biomedicines 2022; 10:biomedicines10061387. [PMID: 35740410 PMCID: PMC9219958 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines10061387] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2022] [Revised: 06/08/2022] [Accepted: 06/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite being a crucial physiological function of the brain, the mechanisms underlying forgetting are still poorly understood. Estrogens play a critical role in different brain functions, including memory. However, the effects of sex hormones on forgetting vulnerabilitymediated by retroactive interference (RI), a phenomenon in which newly acquired information interferes with the retrieval of already stored information, are still poorly understood. The aim of our study was to characterize the sex differences in interference-mediated forgetting and identify the underlying molecular mechanisms. We found that adult male C57bl/6 mice showed a higher susceptibility to RI-dependent memory loss than females. The preference index (PI) in the NOR paradigm was 52.7 ± 5.9% in males and 62.3 ± 13.0% in females. The resistance to RI in female mice was mediated by estrogen signaling involving estrogen receptor α activation in the dorsal hippocampus. Accordingly, following RI, females showed higher phosphorylation levels (+30%) of extracellular signal-regulated kinase1/2 (ERK1/2) in the hippocampus. Pharmacological inhibition of ERK1/2 made female mice prone to RI. The PI was 70.6 ± 11.0% in vehicle-injected mice and 47.4 ± 10.8% following PD98059 administration. Collectively, our data suggest that hippocampal estrogen α receptor-ERK1/2 signaling is critically involved in a pattern separation mechanism that inhibits object-related RI in female mice.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Marco Rinaudo
- Department of Neuroscience, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy; (F.N.); (F.L.G.); (M.S.); (F.P.); (S.F.); (C.G.)
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy
- Correspondence:
| | - Francesca Natale
- Department of Neuroscience, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy; (F.N.); (F.L.G.); (M.S.); (F.P.); (S.F.); (C.G.)
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy
| | - Francesco La Greca
- Department of Neuroscience, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy; (F.N.); (F.L.G.); (M.S.); (F.P.); (S.F.); (C.G.)
| | - Matteo Spinelli
- Department of Neuroscience, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy; (F.N.); (F.L.G.); (M.S.); (F.P.); (S.F.); (C.G.)
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy
| | - Antonella Farsetti
- Institute for System Analysis and Computer Science “A. Ruberti” (IASI), National Research Council (CNR), 00185 Rome, Italy;
| | - Fabiola Paciello
- Department of Neuroscience, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy; (F.N.); (F.L.G.); (M.S.); (F.P.); (S.F.); (C.G.)
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy
| | - Salvatore Fusco
- Department of Neuroscience, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy; (F.N.); (F.L.G.); (M.S.); (F.P.); (S.F.); (C.G.)
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy
| | - Claudio Grassi
- Department of Neuroscience, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy; (F.N.); (F.L.G.); (M.S.); (F.P.); (S.F.); (C.G.)
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Chen X, Tao L, Li J, Wu J, Zhu C, Yu F, Zhang L, Zhang J, Qiu B, Yu Y, Wang K, Wang K. The Working Memory and Dorsolateral Prefrontal-Hippocampal Functional Connectivity Changes in Long-Term Survival Breast Cancer Patients Treated with Tamoxifen. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol 2017; 20:374-382. [PMID: 28177081 PMCID: PMC5417059 DOI: 10.1093/ijnp/pyx008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2016] [Accepted: 02/02/2017] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Tamoxifen is the most widely used drug for treating patients with estrogen receptor-sensitive breast cancer. There is evidence that breast cancer patients treated with tamoxifen exhibit cognitive dysfunction. However, the underlying neural mechanism remains unclear. The present study aimed to investigate the neural mechanisms underlying working memory deficits in combination with functional connectivity changes in premenopausal women with breast cancer who received long-term tamoxifen treatment. METHODS A total of 31 premenopausal women with breast cancer who received tamoxifen and 32 matched healthy control participants were included. The participants completed n-back tasks and underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging, which measure working memory performance and brain functional connectivity, respectively. A seed-based functional connectivity analysis within the whole brain was conducted, for which the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was chosen as the seed region. RESULTS Our results indicated that the tamoxifen group had significant deficits in working memory and general executive function performance and significantly lower functional connectivity of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex with the right hippocampus compared with the healthy controls. There were no significant changes in functional connectivity in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex within the whole brain between the tamoxifen group and healthy controls. Moreover, significant correlations were found in the tamoxifen group between the functional connectivity strength of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex with the right hippocampus and decreased working memory performance. CONCLUSION This study demonstrates that the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus may be affected by tamoxifen treatment, supporting an antagonistic role of tamoxifen in the long-term treatment of breast cancer patients.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xingui Chen
- Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Drs Chen and Wang and Mrs Wu); Collaborative Innovation Centre of Neuropsychiatric Disorders and Mental Health, Anhui Province, China (Drs Chen, Zhu, Yu, L. Zhang, and Wang); Center for Biomedical Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China (Dr Qiu and Mr He); Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Drs Tao and Yu); Department of Oncology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Mrs Li); Department of Medical Psychology, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Drs Zhu, Yu, L. Zhang, and Wang); Department of Breast Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Dr J. Zhang)
| | - Longxiang Tao
- Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Drs Chen and Wang and Mrs Wu); Collaborative Innovation Centre of Neuropsychiatric Disorders and Mental Health, Anhui Province, China (Drs Chen, Zhu, Yu, L. Zhang, and Wang); Center for Biomedical Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China (Dr Qiu and Mr He); Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Drs Tao and Yu); Department of Oncology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Mrs Li); Department of Medical Psychology, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Drs Zhu, Yu, L. Zhang, and Wang); Department of Breast Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Dr J. Zhang)
| | - Jingjing Li
- Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Drs Chen and Wang and Mrs Wu); Collaborative Innovation Centre of Neuropsychiatric Disorders and Mental Health, Anhui Province, China (Drs Chen, Zhu, Yu, L. Zhang, and Wang); Center for Biomedical Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China (Dr Qiu and Mr He); Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Drs Tao and Yu); Department of Oncology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Mrs Li); Department of Medical Psychology, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Drs Zhu, Yu, L. Zhang, and Wang); Department of Breast Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Dr J. Zhang)
| | - Jiaonan Wu
- Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Drs Chen and Wang and Mrs Wu); Collaborative Innovation Centre of Neuropsychiatric Disorders and Mental Health, Anhui Province, China (Drs Chen, Zhu, Yu, L. Zhang, and Wang); Center for Biomedical Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China (Dr Qiu and Mr He); Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Drs Tao and Yu); Department of Oncology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Mrs Li); Department of Medical Psychology, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Drs Zhu, Yu, L. Zhang, and Wang); Department of Breast Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Dr J. Zhang)
| | - Chunyan Zhu
- Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Drs Chen and Wang and Mrs Wu); Collaborative Innovation Centre of Neuropsychiatric Disorders and Mental Health, Anhui Province, China (Drs Chen, Zhu, Yu, L. Zhang, and Wang); Center for Biomedical Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China (Dr Qiu and Mr He); Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Drs Tao and Yu); Department of Oncology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Mrs Li); Department of Medical Psychology, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Drs Zhu, Yu, L. Zhang, and Wang); Department of Breast Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Dr J. Zhang)
| | - Fengqiong Yu
- Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Drs Chen and Wang and Mrs Wu); Collaborative Innovation Centre of Neuropsychiatric Disorders and Mental Health, Anhui Province, China (Drs Chen, Zhu, Yu, L. Zhang, and Wang); Center for Biomedical Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China (Dr Qiu and Mr He); Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Drs Tao and Yu); Department of Oncology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Mrs Li); Department of Medical Psychology, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Drs Zhu, Yu, L. Zhang, and Wang); Department of Breast Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Dr J. Zhang)
| | - Lei Zhang
- Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Drs Chen and Wang and Mrs Wu); Collaborative Innovation Centre of Neuropsychiatric Disorders and Mental Health, Anhui Province, China (Drs Chen, Zhu, Yu, L. Zhang, and Wang); Center for Biomedical Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China (Dr Qiu and Mr He); Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Drs Tao and Yu); Department of Oncology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Mrs Li); Department of Medical Psychology, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Drs Zhu, Yu, L. Zhang, and Wang); Department of Breast Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Dr J. Zhang)
| | - Jingjie Zhang
- Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Drs Chen and Wang and Mrs Wu); Collaborative Innovation Centre of Neuropsychiatric Disorders and Mental Health, Anhui Province, China (Drs Chen, Zhu, Yu, L. Zhang, and Wang); Center for Biomedical Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China (Dr Qiu and Mr He); Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Drs Tao and Yu); Department of Oncology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Mrs Li); Department of Medical Psychology, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Drs Zhu, Yu, L. Zhang, and Wang); Department of Breast Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Dr J. Zhang)
| | - Bensheng Qiu
- Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Drs Chen and Wang and Mrs Wu); Collaborative Innovation Centre of Neuropsychiatric Disorders and Mental Health, Anhui Province, China (Drs Chen, Zhu, Yu, L. Zhang, and Wang); Center for Biomedical Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China (Dr Qiu and Mr He); Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Drs Tao and Yu); Department of Oncology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Mrs Li); Department of Medical Psychology, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Drs Zhu, Yu, L. Zhang, and Wang); Department of Breast Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Dr J. Zhang)
| | - Yongqiang Yu
- Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Drs Chen and Wang and Mrs Wu); Collaborative Innovation Centre of Neuropsychiatric Disorders and Mental Health, Anhui Province, China (Drs Chen, Zhu, Yu, L. Zhang, and Wang); Center for Biomedical Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China (Dr Qiu and Mr He); Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Drs Tao and Yu); Department of Oncology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Mrs Li); Department of Medical Psychology, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Drs Zhu, Yu, L. Zhang, and Wang); Department of Breast Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Dr J. Zhang)
| | - Kai Wang
- Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Drs Chen and Wang and Mrs Wu); Collaborative Innovation Centre of Neuropsychiatric Disorders and Mental Health, Anhui Province, China (Drs Chen, Zhu, Yu, L. Zhang, and Wang); Center for Biomedical Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China (Dr Qiu and Mr He); Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Drs Tao and Yu); Department of Oncology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Mrs Li); Department of Medical Psychology, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Drs Zhu, Yu, L. Zhang, and Wang); Department of Breast Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China (Dr J. Zhang)
| | - Kai Wang
- Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.,Collaborative Innovation Centre of Neuropsychiatric Disorders and Mental Health, Anhui Province, China.,Department of Medical Psychology, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Newhouse P, Albert K, Astur R, Johnson J, Naylor M, Dumas J. Tamoxifen improves cholinergically modulated cognitive performance in postmenopausal women. Neuropsychopharmacology 2013; 38:2632-43. [PMID: 23867982 PMCID: PMC3828534 DOI: 10.1038/npp.2013.172] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2013] [Revised: 06/25/2013] [Accepted: 07/02/2013] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Tamoxifen (TMX) is a selective estrogen receptor modulator that is used as an estrogen receptor antagonist for the treatment and prevention of breast cancer. Whether TMX has antagonist activities in the human brain is less clear and its effects on cognitive function have not been experimentally explored. This study examined how TMX affected cognitive performance in older women using a model of anticholinergic drug-induced cognitive dysfunction. Twenty-one postmenopausal women were administered 20 mg of oral TMX or placebo for 3 months. Participants then took part in five drug challenges using the anticholinergic antinicotinic agent mecamylamine (MECA) and antimuscarinic agent scopolamine (SCOP) and were tested on a comprehensive battery including tasks of attention and psychomotor function, verbal episodic memory, and spatial navigation. After a 3-month placebo washout, participants were then crossed over to the alternate treatment and repeated the drug challenges after 3 months. Compared with placebo treatment, TMX significantly attenuated the impairment from cholinergic blockade on tasks of verbal episodic memory and spatial navigation, but effects on attentional/psychomotor tasks were more variable. Analysis by APOE genotype showed that APO ɛ4+ women showed a greater beneficial effect of TMX on reversing the cholinergic impairment than APO ɛ4- women on most tasks. This study provides evidence that TMX may act as an estrogen-like agonist to enhance cholinergic system activity and hippocampally mediated learning.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Paul Newhouse
- Vanderbilt Center for Cognitive Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA,Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit, Department of Psychiatry, University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, VT, USA,Vanderbilt Center for Cognitive Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, 1601 23rd Avenue, Nashville, TN 37212, USA, Tel: +1 615 936 0928, Fax: +1 615 875 0686, E-mail:
| | - Kimberly Albert
- Vanderbilt Center for Cognitive Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Robert Astur
- Department of Psychology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA
| | - Julia Johnson
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Massachusetts School of Medicine, Worcester, MA, USA
| | - Magdalena Naylor
- Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit, Department of Psychiatry, University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, VT, USA
| | - Julie Dumas
- Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit, Department of Psychiatry, University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, VT, USA
| |
Collapse
|