**Regulation of Structure and Function of Mitochondrion by Estrogen**

**Chapter 18**

**Provisional chapter**

**Estrogen and Mitochondrial Function in Disease**

**Estrogen and Mitochondrial Function in Disease**

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.73015

Anecdotal and scientific evidence suggest that the sex hormone estrogen provides significant health benefits in women. Women have higher estrogen levels than men. Circulating estrogen reaches its highest level during the reproductive period and steadily declines with the onset of menopause. The role of estrogen and estrogen receptors in both cellular physiology and pathophysiology has been controversial. Estrogen has anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant effects, which preserve cell viability during cardiovascular incidents, but it enhances disease progression in the context of breast cancer. Estrogen mediates these responses *via* activation of estrogen receptor subtypes located in the cell membrane, nucleus, and mitochondrion. Further, transcription of nuclear and mitochondrial genes by estrogen yields products that play an important role in regulating mitochondrial function. Mitochondria are part of a highly dynamic network and undergo fission and fusion, produce cellular energy, adenosine 5′ triphosphate (ATP), and regulate cell death. Herein, we review the cell and receptor specific effects of estrogen on mitochondrial structure, function, and cell death under normal physiological conditions and in the context of cardiovascular disease, inflammation, neurodegeneration, and cancer. Further research is needed to elucidate the specific role of estrogenic control of mitochondria in

> © 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution,

© 2018 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use,

distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

The term estrogen refers to a family of chemically similar steroid hormones that include estrone, estradiol, and estriol. Estrogens are synthesized primarily by the ovarian follicles [1]. An important rate limiting step in steroid hormone synthesis is the production of pregnenolone in follicular granulosa cells. Cholesterol is transported from the outer to the inner mitochondrial membrane by the steroidogenic acute regulatory (StAR) protein, followed

**Keywords:** estrogen, mitochondria, aging, menopause, estrogen receptors

Ved P. Mooga, C. Roger White and

Ved P. Mooga, C. Roger White and

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.73015

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

Samantha Giordano-Mooga

**Abstract**

health and disease.

**1. Introduction**

Samantha Giordano-Mooga

**Provisional chapter**
