Effect of estrogen on heat shock protein 70 expression in rat masseter muscle / 华西口腔医学杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effect of estrogen on heat shock protein (HSP) 70 expression in rat masseter muscle.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Sixty twelve-week-old female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into three groups Sham surgery group (control group), ovariectomy group (OVX group), ovariectomy with estradiol valerate replacement treatment group (OVX/EV group). Half of the animals were sacrificed at 4 and 8 weeks respectively, then the masseter muscle was removed. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) method was employed to study the HSP70 expression in masseter muscle.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared to control group and OVX/EV group, the expression of HSP70 was significantly lower at 8 weeks in OVX group (P < 0.05). There were no significantly difference between the HSP70 expression of control group and that of OVX/EV group.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Estrogen may affect HSP70 expression in rat masseter muscle, and estrogen replacement therapy may prevent HSP70 reduction.</p>