ReviewJournal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology2018
On the role of brain aromatase in females: why are estrogens produced locally when they are available systemically?
Review in Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed, 59 citations in OpenAlex.
- Dexamethasone Suppresses Already Low Estrogen Receptor Levels in Meningiomas.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Low-dose testosterone administration and oestrogen synthase availability in the female brain: A pilot study.Journal of neuroendocrinology · 2026Article
- Construction of an Adverse Outcome Pathway Framework for Glyphosate-Induced Female Reproductive Toxicity Based on Toxicity Pathways.Environment & health (Washington, D.C.) · 2026Review
- Perinatal Exposure to the Neonicotinoid Thiacloprid Impacts Transcription of Neuroplasticity and Neuroendocrine Markers in Mice but Not in the Zebrafish Model.Journal of applied toxicology : JAT · 2026Article
- Aging Effects on Absolute and Relative Estrogen Receptor Variant Gene Expression Levels in Male Versus Female Rat Ventromedial Hypothalamic Nucleus Growth Hormone-Releasing Hormone Neurons.Journal of integrative neuroscience · 2025Article
- Metabolic Messengers: oestradiol.Nature metabolism · 2025Review
- Sex-dimorphic growth hormone-releasing hormone (Ghrh) receptor regulation of ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus Ghrh neuron estrogen receptor variant gene expression.Translational neuroscience · 2025Article
- Sex-dependent endozepinergic regulation of ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus glucose counter-regulatory neuron aromatase protein expression in the adult rat.Journal of chemical neuroanatomy · 2023Article
- The effect of letrozole overlapped with gonadotropin on IVF outcomes in women with DOR or aged over 40 years old with repeated cycles.Journal of ovarian research · 2023Article
- Article
- Letrozole administration effects on the P450aromatase expression and the reproductive parameters in male sheep (Animal reproduction · 2023Article
- The impact of 17β-estradiol on the estrogen-deficient female brain: from mechanisms to therapy with hot flushes as target symptoms.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2023Review
- Mutation of brain aromatase disrupts spawning behavior and reproductive health in female zebrafish.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2023Article
- Bidirectional relationships between testosterone and aggression: a critical analysis of four predictions.Integrative and comparative biology · 2022Article
- Aromatase Inhibition Eliminates Sexual Receptivity Without Enhancing Weight Gain in Ovariectomized Marmoset Monkeys.Journal of the Endocrine Society · 2022Article
- Brain-derived estrogen and neural function.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2022Review
- Translating the Transcriptome: Sex Differences in the Mechanisms of Depression and Stress, Revisited.Biological psychiatry · 2022Review
- The Sexual Dimorphic Synapse: From Spine Density to Molecular Composition.Frontiers in molecular neuroscience · 2022Review
- Mitochondria as the target for disease related hormonal dysregulation.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2021Article
- Sex and oestrogen receptor β have modest effects on gene expression in the mouse brain posterior cortex.Endocrinology, diabetes & metabolism · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
The ovaries are often thought of as the main and only source of estrogens involved in the regulation of female behavior. However, aromatase, the key enzyme for estrogen synthesis, although it is more abundant in males, is expressed and active in the brain of females where it is regulated by similar mechanisms as in males. Early work had shown that estrogens produced in the ventromedial hypothalamus are involved in the regulation of female sexual behavior in musk shrews. However, the question of the role of central aromatase in general had not received much attention until recently. Here, I will review the emerging concept that central aromatization plays a role in the regulation of physiological and behavioral endpoints in females. The data support the notion that in females, brain aromatase is not simply a non-functional evolutionary vestige, and provide support for the importance of locally produced estrogens for brain function in females. These observations should also have an impact for clinical research.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.