Sex differences in microglial colonization and vulnerabilities to endocrine disruption in the social brain.
During development, microglia, the resident immune cells of the brain, play an important role in synaptic organization. Microglial colonization of the developing brain is sexually dimorphic in some regions, including nuclei critical for the coordination of social behavior, suggesting steroid hormones have an influencing role, particularly estrogen. By extension, microglial colonization may be vulnerable to endocrine disruption. Concerns have been raised regarding the potential for endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) to alter brain development and behavior. Developmental exposure to Bisphenol A (BPA), a ubiquitous EDC, has been associated with altered sociosexual and mood-related behaviors in various animal models and children. Through a comparison of the promiscuous Wistar rat (Rattus norvegicus) and the socially monogamous prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster), we are the first to observe that developmental exposure to the synthetic estrogen ethinyl estradiol (EE) or BPA alters the sex-specific colonization of the hippocampus and amygdala by microglia.
Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA; W. M. Keck Center for Behavioral Biology, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA.
Meghan E
ME
Rebuli
Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA.
Paul
P
Gibson
Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA.
Cassie L
CL
Rhodes
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso 79968, USA.
Bruce S
BS
Cushing
Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA; W. M. Keck Center for Behavioral Biology, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA; NCSU Center for Human Health and the Environment, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA. Electronic address: hbpatisa@ncsu.edu.
Heather B
HB
Patisaul
D000679:Amygdala / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D003411:Arvicolinae; D001559:Benzhydryl Compounds / Q000633:toxicity; D001921:Brain / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development; D018891:Dentate Gyrus / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects; D052244:Endocrine Disruptors / Q000633:toxicity*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D017628:Microglia / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D010636:Phenols / Q000633:toxicity; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012919:Social Behavior; D013003:Somatosensory Cortex / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects; D000098826:Bisphenol A Compounds
D001559:Benzhydryl Compounds; D052244:Endocrine Disruptors; D010636:Phenols; C006780:bisphenol A; D000098826:Bisphenol A Compounds
EDC; Hypothalamus; Puberty; Rat; Sexual differentiation; Vole