The androgen receptor (AR) plays a central role in mediating androgen actio
n. Since the hippocampus is a target of steroid modulation, we studied the
expression of AR mRNAs in hippocampal tissue specimens from patients underg
oing epilepsy surgery (n = 42). AR mRNA expression was in the same order of
magnitude than in prostate tissue, known for its high expression of AR. AR
mRNA concentrations showed no significant difference in AR mRNA expression
between men (49.3 +/- 8.0 arbitrary units (aU); mean +/- SEM) and women (5
4.3 +/- 11.2 aU) and no sex-specific hippocampal lateralization pattern was
observed. No relationship could be detected between duration of epilepsy,
individual seizure frequency, age of the patients and the expression levels
of AR. The high expression of AR in the hippocampus suggests that this hum
an brain area is an important target for androgen action. (C) 2000 Elsevier
Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.