title: A high level of male sexual activity is necessary for the activation of the medial preoptic area and the arcuate nucleus during the 'male effect' in anestrous goats.
abstract: In small ungulates such as sheep or goats, the introduction of a male among a group of anovulatory females during the anestrus season leads to the reactivation of the gonadotrope axis and ovulation, a phenomenon known as the 'male effect'. In goats, our previous studies have demonstrated the importance of male sexual activity for an efficient reactivation of the gonadotrope axis assessed through ovulation and blood LH pulsatility. In the present experiment, we assessed whether the level of male sexual activity would also induce differential activation of two brain regions of key importance for the reactivation of GnRH activity, namely the medial preoptic area and the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus. In both structures, we observed a differential activation of Fos in females, depending on the level of buck sexual activity. Indeed, goats unexposed to males showed low levels of expression of Fos while those exposed to sexually inactive bucks showed an intermediate level of Fos expression. Finally, the highest level of Fos expression was found in females exposed to sexually active males. However, and contrary to our initial hypothesis, we were not able to find any specific activation of kisspeptin cells in the arcuate nucleus following the introduction of highly sexually active males. As a whole, these results demonstrate that the level of male sexual activity is a key factor to stimulate brain regions involved in the control of the gonadotrope axis in the context of the male effect in goats.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación en Reproduccion Caprina (CIRCA), Universidad Autonoma Agraria Antonio Narro, Torreon, Mexico.
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bedos
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Neurobiologia, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Querétaro, Mexico.
authors.forename: Wendy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Portillo
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de la Physiologie de la Reproduction & des Comportements, CNRS UMR 7247, Nouzilly, France; INRA, UMR 85, Nouzilly, France; Université François Rabelais, Tours, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Philippe
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Dubois
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación en Reproduccion Caprina (CIRCA), Universidad Autonoma Agraria Antonio Narro, Torreon, Mexico.
authors.forename: Gerardo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Duarte
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación en Reproduccion Caprina (CIRCA), Universidad Autonoma Agraria Antonio Narro, Torreon, Mexico.
authors.forename: José A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Flores
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de la Physiologie de la Reproduction & des Comportements, CNRS UMR 7247, Nouzilly, France; INRA, UMR 85, Nouzilly, France; Université François Rabelais, Tours, France.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chemineau
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de la Physiologie de la Reproduction & des Comportements, CNRS UMR 7247, Nouzilly, France; INRA, UMR 85, Nouzilly, France; Université François Rabelais, Tours, France.
authors.forename: Matthieu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Keller
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Neurobiologia, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Querétaro, Mexico.
authors.forename: Raúl G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Paredes
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación en Reproduccion Caprina (CIRCA), Universidad Autonoma Agraria Antonio Narro, Torreon, Mexico. Electronic address: joaldesa@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: José A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Delgadillo
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000780:Anestrus / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001111:Arcuate Nucleus of Hypothalamus / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006041:Goats; D007987:Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone / Q000378:metabolism; D059648:Kisspeptins / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D016761:Oncogene Proteins v-fos / Q000378:metabolism; D011301:Preoptic Area / Q000502:physiology*; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D059648:Kisspeptins; D016761:Oncogene Proteins v-fos; D007987:Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone
keywords: Kisspeptin; Male/female interaction; Ovulation; Reproduction; Seasonality; c-Fos