Effects of fetal brain grafting on adult behavioral masculinization and defeminization in neonatally androgenized female rats.
Treatment of neonatal female rats with androgen results not only in decreased female sexual behavior but also in enhanced male sexual behavior examined in adulthood. The effects of grafting fetal preoptic area (POA) neurons into the POA, and fetal hypothalamic (HPT) neurons into the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH), were tested in neonatally androgen-sterilized rats (ASR). The rats were injected subcutaneously with 80 micrograms testosterone propionate within the 24 hours after birth to see if sexual behavior could be normalized by fetal brain grafts. In repeated tests on ASR grafted with fetal HPT into the VMH, the lordotic response was seen to increase to the level seen in non-ASR controls, while the increase in mounting behavior in ASR was suppressed following grafting of fetal POA or cerebral cortex into the POA. These results suggest that there are dysfunctions of POA and VMH in ASR, and that the dysfunctions revealed by sexual behavior can be overcome by fetal POA or HPT grafting.
Tsai
Y F
YF
Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Republic of China.
Chen
T J
TJ
Pi
W P
WP
Tai
M Y
MY
Huang
R L
RL
Chiueh
C C
CC
Peng
M T
MT
D000728:Androgens / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn / Q000502:physiology*; D016380:Brain Tissue Transplantation / Q000502:physiology*; D017690:Cell Transplantation / Q000502:physiology*; D004958:Estradiol / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D016332:Fetal Tissue Transplantation / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D010052:Ovariectomy; D011187:Posture / Q000502:physiology; D011301:Preoptic Area / Q000502:physiology; D011374:Progesterone / Q000494:pharmacology; D051381:Rats; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D014697:Ventromedial Hypothalamic Nucleus / Q000502:physiology
D000728:Androgens; D011374:Progesterone; D004958:Estradiol