EFFECTS OF OVARIECTOMY ON CEREBRAL BLOOD-FLOW OF RATS

Recent reports suggest that estrogens may enhance cognitive function i n postmenopausal women and women suffering from dementia of the Alzhei mer's type. One of several proposed mechanisms of action of estrogen h as been an improvement in cerebral blood flow (CBF). The current study examined the effects of estrogen deprivation resulting from ovariecto my on the CBF of rats using the quantitative autoradiographic C-14-iod oantipyrine technique. CBF was assessed in passively restrained, awake adult rats at 6 weeks following ovariectomy (n = 10) or sham surgery (n = 10). Rats demonstrated marked endometrial atrophy and a decrease in uterine weight (mean 78%) in response to ovariectomy. Ovariectomize d animals did not differ from control animals both in the magnitude an d the topography of cortical or subcortical CBF, including the medial preoptic area, amygdala, arcuate nucleus and anterior hypothalamus, ar eas previously associated with high estrogen binding. These results su ggest that in young, surgically ovariectomized animals, hormonal facto rs do not significantly contribute to changes in basal CBF.