title: The neurosteroid 3alphaDIOL modulates place preference when infused in the basolateral amygdala according to sex.
abstract: Three different behavioral tasks were used to study the role of the neurosteroid 5alpha -androstane-3alpha, 17beta-diol (3alphaDIOL) in affective components of behavior when infused into the basolateral amygdala (BLA) of both sexes. Female rats were ovariectomized; half received implants containing estradiol benzoate (OVX-EB), whereas the other half received empty implants (OVX). Male rats were gonadally intact. No differences were noted in male behavior according to the conditioned place preference (CPP) test, the modified Vogel conflict test (VCT), or the elevated plus maze (EPM) upon infusion of 3alphaDIOL. In contrast, 3alphaDIOL modulated CPP and VCT performance among female rats. Therefore, the authors propose that 3alphaDIOL modulates affect through the BLA via a sex-specific mechanism.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Medical Sciences Campus, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
authors.forename: Nivia L
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Pérez-Acevedo
authors.forename: Liselle
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lathroum
authors.forename: Juan Carlos
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Jorge
mesh_terms: D000679:Amygdala / Q000187:drug effects*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D003216:Conditioning, Operant / Q000187:drug effects*; D004958:Estradiol / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology; D004967:Estrogens / Q000097:blood / Q000494:pharmacology; D005106:Exploratory Behavior / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D018755:GABA Agonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D018756:GABA Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000187:drug effects; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects; D009118:Muscimol / Q000494:pharmacology; D010052:Ovariectomy / Q000379:methods; D011724:Pyridazines / Q000494:pharmacology; D011863:Radioimmunoassay / Q000379:methods; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013037:Spatial Behavior / Q000187:drug effects*; D013256:Steroids / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D004967:Estrogens; D018755:GABA Agonists; D018756:GABA Antagonists; D011724:Pyridazines; D013256:Steroids; C074283:estradiol 3-benzoate; D009118:Muscimol; D004958:Estradiol; C049853:gabazine