The effects of the non-selective beta-adrenergic blocking agent propranolol (known for its anti-lipolytic activity) on body composition were investigated in growing male rats on normal unrestricted diet (N = 7) and on diet restriction (N = 7, 95% of controls). Three animals in each group were injected i.p. with 30 mg propranolol per kg body weight (bw) dissolved in saline, 5 days/week. This dose attenuates exercising heart rate by 25% and exercise training-induced enzyme activity. The remaining animals received saline. Fat, glycogen, moisture and non-ether extractable residue were determined in the homogenized residue of the whole animal. After 9 weeks on the experimental regimen, bw gain was significantly lower in the diet restricted rats, whereas propranolol had no effect on the bw gain. The percentage of fat, moisture and non-ether extractable residue were unchanged by either propranolol or diet restriction. However, glycogen content was significantly lower in the beta-blocked rats either with or without diet restriction. These data indicated that neither beta-adrenergic blockade nor minimal diet restriction influences the percentage body fat, whereas body glycogen content is decreased under both conditions.

Increasing age disproportionately increases the risk of stroke among women compared to men of similar age, especially after menopause. One of the reasons for this observation is a sharp drop in circulating estrogens. However, the timing of initiation of estrogen replacement after menopause is associated with mixed beneficial and detrimental effects, hence contributing to widespread mistrust of estrogen use. Agents including soy isoflavones are being assessed as viable alternatives to estrogen therapy. In this study, we hypothesized that the neuroprotective effects of genistein, a soy isoflavone are less sensitive to the length of hypogonadism in young adult ovariectomized rats following cerebral ischemia. We expected that long‐term hypogonadism will worsen motor and cognitive function, increase post‐stroke inflammation with no effect on the neuroprotection of genistein. We compared the effect of treatment with dietary genistein (GEN) on short‐term (2 weeks) and long‐term hypogonadism (12 weeks) in young adult ovariectomized Sprague–Dawley rats on sensorimotor function, cognition and inflammation after focal ischemia. Dorsal Silastic implant of 17β‐estradiol (E2) was used as a control for hormone therapy. Long‐term hypogonadism stroked rats performed worse than the short‐term hypogonadism stroked rats on the motor and cognitive function tests. GEN did not improve neurological assessment and motor learning after either short‐term or long‐term hypogonadism. GEN improved cognitive flexibility after short‐term hypogonadism but not after the long‐term. Both GEN and E2 reduced tissue loss after short‐term hypogonadism and reduced GFAP expression at the contralateral side of ischemia after long‐term hypogonadism. The length of hypogonadism may differentially influence the neuroprotective effects of both GEN and E2 on the motor and cognitive functions in young adult rats.