Researchers at Cedars-Sinai have explored estrogen as a means of preventing symptoms of delirium in a study published in Scientific Reports.
“We tested this hypothesis in a mouse model of UTI. Female C57BL/6J mice were oophorectomized, UTIs induced by transurethral inoculation of E. coli, and treated with 17β-estradiol,” the authors of the study wrote in their study.
“Delirium-like behaviors were evaluated prior to and following UTI and 17β-estradiol treatment.”
The findings suggest that 17β-estradiol may be a therapeutic target to reduce symptoms associated with delirium after a urinary tract infection.
“These pre-clinical results call for future clinical investigations using acute 17β-estradiol therapy to ameliorate acute delirium-like states following UTI in postmenopausal women,” the authors determined.