Perinatal aromatase activity in male and female rats: effect of prenatal alcohol exposure.
Fetal alcohol exposure has been shown to produce long-term feminizing and demasculinizing effects on male rat behaviors which are organizationally dependent upon perinatal androgen levels. Such exposure has previously been shown to suppress the normal surge of testosterone during the critical prenatal period. Since defeminization of male rat behavior is dependent upon estrogen derived from the aromatization of testosterone in brain, brain aromatase activity was measured during the perinatal period in males and females exposed to alcohol beginning on Day 14 of gestation. Aromatase activity was measured in whole hypothalamus of fetuses from Day 16 through 20 of gestation and in the hypothalamic preoptic area and amygdala of animals 6-12 hr postparturition. Hypothalamic aromatase activity was elevated in fetal alcohol exposed males compared to controls on Days 18 and 19 of gestation and on postnatal Day 1. No effect of prenatal alcohol exposure was found in females. A sex effect in aromatase activity in the amygdala was evident on Day 1 when activity was found to be greater in males than females. Overall, these findings indicate that fetal alcohol exposure will elevate regional brain aromatase activity in males, but not females during the perinatal period of neurobehavioral sexual differentiation.
McGivern
R F
RF
Department of Medicine, UCLA, Torrance 90509.
Roselli
C E
CE
Handa
R J
RJ
D000679:Amygdala / Q000201:enzymology; D000818:Animals; D001141:Aromatase / Q000378:metabolism*; D001921:Brain / Q000201:enzymology*; D005260:Female; D063647:Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders / Q000201:enzymology*; D005865:Gestational Age; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011301:Preoptic Area / Q000201:enzymology; D051381:Rats; D012733:Sex Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects*
D001141:Aromatase