ニューロステロイド・７αーヒドロキシプレグネノロンの生理機能とその作用機序

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We focused our attention to a new neurosteroid, 7alpha-hydroxy pregnenolone (7alpha-OH-Preg). Our purpose is to identify and examine 7alpha-OH-Preg and its synthetic enzymes in the mammalian brain. We investigated endogenous steroids in the mouse and rat brain by HPLC and MS analysis. We established an HPLC-MS analysis method for the detection of 7alpha-OH-Preg and its related neurosteroids. We examined mRNA levels of genes encoding the enzymes that are necessary for synthesis of 7alpha -OH-Preg and detected the circadian expression in some part of the mouse brain. We also performed various behavioral tests that evaluate emotion and memory formation of mice which lack synthetic enzyme of 7alpha-OH-Preg at several time points during the day for understanding of its actions.