Prenatal exposure to testosterone and its precursors influences morphology and later behavioral responsiveness to testosterone of female mice.
Prenatal exposure to testosterone (T), dehydroepiandrosterone or progesterone significantly increased ano-genital distance of female mice. In addition, prenatal exposure to T or pregnenolone significantly reduced the duration of T exposure during adult life required to induce intraspecific fighting behavior. However, the most masculinized females, those exposed to T prenatally, still had significantly shorter ano-genital distances and required a longer exposure period to T in order to establish fighting than did prenatally oil-exposed male mice. Additional experiments revealed that pregnenolone augments later responsiveness to the aggression-promoting property of T only if it is administered during the prenatal period of development.
D000374:Aggression / Q000187:drug effects*; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D002369:Castration; D003687:Dehydroepiandrosterone / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008431:Maternal-Fetal Exchange; D051379:Mice; D011247:Pregnancy; D011284:Pregnenolone / Q000494:pharmacology; D011374:Progesterone / Q000494:pharmacology; D013739:Testosterone / Q000494:pharmacology*
D013739:Testosterone; D003687:Dehydroepiandrosterone; D011374:Progesterone; D011284:Pregnenolone