title: Testosterone is involved in mediating the effects of prenatal stress in male guinea pig offspring.
abstract: Studies in humans have demonstrated a link between stress during pregnancy and altered behaviour and stress reactivity in children. In guinea pigs, we have previously shown that a short period of maternal stress during gestation leads to increased anxiety, elevated basal cortisol levels and decreased testosterone levels in adult males. We hypothesized that restoring testosterone to normal levels in the adult males born to prenatally stressed mothers would reverse the changes in behaviours and endocrine function. We found differences in attention and anxiety-related behaviours and basal stress endocrine activity between the prenatally stressed and control males. Administration of testosterone reversed the behavioural differences in the prenatally stressed offspring. There was, however, little effect of postnatal testosterone administration on stress-related endocrine activity. This study provides new information to begin to address the mechanism underlying the interplay between prenatal stress, gonadal steroids and postnatal behaviours.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Amita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kapoor
authors.forename: Stephen G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Matthews
mesh_terms: D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone / Q000097:blood; D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D001769:Blood / Q000187:drug effects; D005106:Exploratory Behavior / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D020249:Hormone Replacement Therapy; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D009622:Noise; D009919:Orchiectomy; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology; D013216:Reflex, Startle / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D012463:Saliva / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D055139:Sensory Gating / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000502:physiology*; D013739:Testosterone / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D013739:Testosterone; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone; D006854:Hydrocortisone