Abstract
We aimed to determine the role of estrogens in modulating the size of neuronal somata of paravaginal ganglia. Rabbits were allocated into control (C), ovariectomized (OVX), and OVX treated with estradiol benzoate (OVX + EB) groups to evaluate the neuronal soma area; total serum estradiol (E2) and testosterone (T) levels; the percentage of immunoreactive (ir) neurons anti-aromatase, anti-estrogen receptor (ERα, ERβ) and anti-androgen receptor (AR); the intensity of the immunostaining anti-glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and the GDNF family receptor alpha type 1 (GFRα1); and the number of satellite glial cells (SGCs) per neuron. There was a decrease in the neuronal soma size for the OVX group, which was associated with low T, high percentages of aromatase-ir and neuritic AR-ir neurons, and a strong immunostaining anti-GDNF and anti-GFRα1. The decrease in the neuronal soma size was prevented by the EB treatment that increased the E2 without affecting the T levels. Moreover, there was a high percentage of neuritic AR-ir neurons, a strong GDNF immunostaining in the SGC, and an increase in the SGCs per neuron. Present findings show that estrogens modulate the soma size of neurons of the paravaginal ganglia, likely involving the participation of the SGC.