sex differences in mechanisms and outcome of neonatal hypoxia-ischemia in rodent models implications for sex-specific neuroprotection in clinical neonatal practice性别差异在机制和新生儿的结果分在动物模型中对性别的影响在临床新生儿神经保护实践.pdfVIP

Hindawi Publishing Corporation Neurology Research International Volume 2012, Article ID 867531, 9 pages doi:10.1155/2012/867531 Review Article Sex Differences in Mechanisms and Outcome of Neonatal Hypoxia-Ischemia in Rodent Models: Implications for Sex-Specific Neuroprotection in Clinical Neonatal Practice Courtney A. Hill and R. Holly Fitch Department of Psychology, University of Connecticut, 406 Babbidge Road, Storrs, CT 06269, USA Correspondence should be addressed to Courtney A. Hill, cahill@ Received 7 September 2011; Revised 3 November 2011; Accepted 16 November 2011 Academic Editor: Robin L. Haynes Copyright © 2012 C. A. Hill and R. H. Fitch. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Clinical findings show that male infants with hypoxic-ischemic injury (HI) fare more poorly than matched females on cognitive outcomes. Rodent models of neonatal hypoxia-ischemia support this difference, with data showing that perinatal brain injury leads to long-term behavioral deficits primarily in male rodents and in female rodents treated with early androgens. Results support the idea that sex-specific gonadal hormones may modulate developmental response to injury and dovetail with overwhelming evidence of developmental androgen effects on typical brain morphology and behavior. However, mechanisms underlying sex differences in response to early brain injury may be more complicated. Specifically, activation of cell death pathways in response to HI may also differ by sex. In females, the preferential activation of the caspase-dependent apoptotic pathway may actually afford greater protection, potentially due to the action