Fetal testosterone surge: specific modulations induced in male rats by maternal stress and/or alcohol consumption

Ward, Ingeborg L.; Ward, O. Byron; Affuso, John D; Long, William D.; French, Jeffrey A.; Hendricks, Shelton E.

doi:10.1016/s0018-506x(03)00061-8

Cited by 98 publications

(73 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…In particular, they found that while prenatal stress suppresses prenatal and does not affect postnatal testosterone, ethanol exposure enhances prenatal and suppresses postnatal testosterone levels [11,12,41]. Prenatal exposure to ethanol and stress combined have the most dramatic feminizing effect on male sexual behavior [9].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ward and colleagues [11,12,41] have repeatedly shown that the effects of prenatal ethanol exposure often synergize with prenatal stress to affect measures of male sexual behavior and reduce testosterone levels during development. In particular, they found that while prenatal stress suppresses prenatal and does not affect postnatal testosterone, ethanol exposure enhances prenatal and suppresses postnatal testosterone levels [11,12,41].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ethanol exposure from GD 12 to PD 10 decreases testosterone in male rats on PD 55 and PD 110 [10]. Ethanol exposure from GD 10 to 19 augments testosterone levels in male rats on GD 18 and 19 [11] and suppresses it during the early postnatal period [12]. Low levels of testosterone during development and/ or during adulthood have been shown to result in low levels of offensive inter-male aggression in rats and mice [13][14][15][16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The decrease in masculinization may also be responsible for the decrease in aggression behavior seen in the current study, since female rats typically show low levels of aggression [14,40]. Nevertheless, in order to begin to understand the mechanism of the ethanol-induced reduction in adult testosterone levels, a developmental time course describing the changes in testosterone over the lifespan is necessary.Ward and colleagues [11,12,41] have repeatedly shown that the effects of prenatal ethanol exposure often synergize with prenatal stress to affect measures of male sexual behavior and reduce testosterone levels during development. In particular, they found that while prenatal stress suppresses prenatal and does not affect postnatal testosterone, ethanol exposure enhances prenatal and suppresses postnatal testosterone levels [11,12,41].…”

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Ethanol exposure during development reduces resident aggression and testosterone in rats

Lugo

Marino

Gass

et al. 2006

Physiology & Behavior

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Ethanol exposure during development has been shown to alter social behaviors in people, but the range of deficits is not clear. Using an animal model of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, intermale aggression and testosterone levels were examined in adult rats. Rats were exposed to ethanol during the entire prenatal period and from postnatal day 2 through 10. Ethanol was administered via intragastric intubation. Two other groups consisted of a nontreated control and an intubated control group that was exposed to the administration procedures but not ethanol. Both offensive and defensive aggression were examined in experimental residents and intruders under three different housing conditions for the resident males: (1) with another male, (2) with a pregnant female, and (3) with a female and litter fathered by the experimental animal. When housed with a female and litter, ethanol-exposed rats displayed reduced offensive aggression compared to control groups under the same condition. Defensive aggression in the non-experimental intruders was reduced in this same condition. There were no differences in duration of non-aggressive social behaviors among the groups in any of the housing conditions. Testosterone levels were reduced in ethanol-exposed rats compared to controls. In summary, ethanol exposure over the combined prenatal and postnatal periods reduces aggressive behavior in a condition where aggressive behavior is normally seen. This reduction may be related to lower testosterone levels. KeywordsFetal alcohol syndrome; Aggression; Resident-intruder paradigm; Social behavior; Prenatal alcohol Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) describes those individuals who manifest mild to severe disturbances of physical, behavioral, emotional, and/or social functioning due to in utero ethanol exposure. FASD individuals are found to commit high rate of crimes against others, engage in inappropriate sexual behavior, and are described as having a failure to consider the consequences of their actions [1,2]. Even though FASD individuals show high rates of crime, no direct measures of aggressive behaviors or testosterone in FAS individuals have been conducted. [3][4][5][6]; ethanol exposure from gestation day (GD) 6 to 19 increases offensive aggression in rats [7]. Ethanol exposure during the last four days of pregnancy and from postnatal day (PD) 1 to PD 4 increases aggression, while ethanol exposure confined to the period from PD 1 to 4 did not affect aggressive behavior in mice [8]. However, another study found that ethanol exposure from birth until PD 14 decreases aggression in mice [6]. These studies suggest that prenatal ethanol exposure may increase aggression, while postnatal ethanol exposure may decrease aggression. However, many of the early studies used ethanol administration procedures that were confounded by nutritional effects [4][5][6]8] or resulted in minimal transfer of ethanol to the pup [6]. The effect of ethanol exposure during the entire gestation period and during early postnatal development (i.e...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ethanol exposure during development reduces resident aggression and testosterone in rats

Lugo

Marino

Gass

et al. 2006

Physiology & Behavior

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“…Thus, studies assessing the relationship between fT and cognition would be expected to reveal that individuals with high levels of testosterone would be superior at mental rotation and targeting tasks, while more impaired at empathizing and language abilities Most of the studies assessing fT and autistic traits were from the Cambridge Foetal Testosterone Project, which used amniotic fluid samples from 235 women who underwent routine amniocentesis during their second trimester of pregnancy ). This time period represents weeks 14-20 of gestation, which encompasses the critical period mentioned above when surges in fT are reportedly observed (Manson, 2008;Ward et al, 2003). Testosterone levels were analyzed by radioimmunoassay and participants were excluded from the study if the amniocentesis carried chromosomal abnormalities, if twins were the outcome, if the pregnancy led to birth defects, or if medical information was missing ).…”

Section: The Foetal Testosterone Theory Of Autismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extreme Male Brain Theory of Autism

Liu¹,

Konkle²

2011

RISS-IJHS

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Les troubles du spectre autistique (TSA) sont une catégorie de troubles de la neurologie du développement présentant des symptômes de dégradation sociale et des communications, ainsi que des comportements restrictifs et répétitifs. Ils sont davantage présents chez les hommes que chez les femmes, et cette diffé-rence entre les sexes a beaucoup influencé les hypothèses au sujet de leur étiolo-gie. La théorie du cerveau mâle extrême (CME) est un modèle cognitif proposé par Simon Baron-Cohen pour expliquer les différences entre les sexes et les causes potentielles des TSA susmentionnés. Elle repose sur sa théorie d'empathisation-systématisation, qui consiste à classer les sujets dans cinq profils cognitifs (Type S, Type E, Type B, Type S extrême et Type E extrême). Ces profils cognitifs déterminent la capacité du sujet de systématiser et d'être en empathie avec. La systématisation est la capacité de comprendre un système et d'en dé-duire les règles. Elle exige des capacités de déduction et d'analyse. L'empathie a trait à la compréhension des émotions et des comportements humains, ce qui exige des capacités sociales et de communication. Les hommes ont tendance à mieux systématiser, tandis que les femmes présentent le profil opposé. Selon la théorie du CME, les autistes auraient un profil de Type S extrême, car on peut expliquer leurs troubles de communication sociale par leur déficit d'empathie, alors qu'on peut relier à leur fort niveau de systématisation leur préoccupation au sujet des patrons et leur comportement axé sur les détails. Ensemble, ces modèles cognitifs ont conduit à la théorie de la testostérone foetale (Tf), qui stipule qu'un niveau élevé de testostérone prénatale est un facteur de risque pour le profil cognitif hypermasculinisé des sujets atteints de TSA. Dans cet article, les auteurs évaluent la validité des théories du CME et de la Tf, en étudiant la documentation portant sur la Tf avec des caractéristiques autistes dans l'ensemble de la population. Ces sept études ont confirmé une corrélation entre des niveaux élevés de Tf et une augmentation des caractéristiques autistes, mais il faut envisager d'y mettre des limites au moment de généraliser ces informations à un échantillon de sujets atteints de TSA. Mots-clés :Troubles du spectre autistique, théorie du cerveau mâle extrême, théorie d'empathisationsystématisation, théorie de la testostérone foetale 33 Abstract:Autism spectrum conditions (ASCs) are a category of neurodevelopmental disorders with symptoms of communication and social impairment, and the exhibition of restrictive and repetitive behaviours. Their occurrence is greater in males than females and this sex difference has played an important part in hypothesizing their etiology. The Extreme Male Brain (EMB) theory is a cognitive model proposed by Simon Baron-Cohen to explain the aforementioned sex differences and potential cause of ASCs. It is based upon his Empathizing -Systemizing theory, which classifies individuals into one of five cognitive profiles (Type S, Type E, Type B, Extreme ...

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A pilot study on the effect of early provision of dietary docosahexaenoic acid on testis development, functions, and sperm quality in rats exposed to prenatal ethanol

Kapourchali

Louis

Eskin

et al. 2019

Birth Defects Research

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BackgroundPrenatal ethanol (EtOH) exposure is associated with adverse effect on the male reproductive function. Dietary docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is known to improve testis function and sperm parameters, thereby male fertility. This study piloted whether dietary DHA influences testis development and function in rats exposed to prenatal EtOH.MethodsPregnant female Sprague–Dawley rats (n = 30) received either EtOH (3 g/kg, twice a day, n = 14) or dextrose (n = 16) throughout pregnancy. Moreover, they were fed either diet supplemented with (Cont + DHA, n = 8, EtOH + DHA, n = 6) or without DHA (1.4% w/w of total fatty acids) (Cont, EtOH, n = 8 each), with pups being continued on their mothers' diet after weaning. Tissues were collected at gestational day (GD) 20, postnatal day (PD) 4, 21, 49 and 90 for analyzing testicular developmental markers and sperm parameters, and plasma for testosterone.ResultsDietary DHA increased serum testosterone at GD20 (p < .05) and sperm normal morphology at PD90 (p < .0001) compared to the group without DHA supplementation. Dietary DHA also increased the height of germinal epithelium at peripuberty, PD49 (p < .03). The EtOH exposure induced a marked decline in the testicular gene expression of StAR at PD49 (p < .02) than those of non‐EtOH treated group.ConclusionsThese findings indicate that dietary DHA may positively contribute to male fertility by impacting sperm normal morphology likely by increasing fetal testosterone level. Prenatal EtOH exposure did not adversely affect the overall testis developmental markers during development and sperm parameters in adulthood.

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Fetal testosterone surge: specific modulations induced in male rats by maternal stress and/or alcohol consumption

Cited by 98 publications

References 47 publications

Ethanol exposure during development reduces resident aggression and testosterone in rats

Ethanol exposure during development reduces resident aggression and testosterone in rats

Extreme Male Brain Theory of Autism

A pilot study on the effect of early provision of dietary docosahexaenoic acid on testis development, functions, and sperm quality in rats exposed to prenatal ethanol

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