Sexual Characteristics of Adult Female Mice Are Correlated with Their Blood Testosterone Levels During Prenatal Development

Saal, FS vom; Bronson, F. H.

doi:10.1126/science.7367881

Cited by 366 publications

(150 citation statements)

References 17 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

142

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…In case of rodents such as mice and rats, direct measures of prenatal T levels show that T can transfer between littermates (e.g. vom Saal and Bronson, 1980;Even et al, 1992). In line with this, rodents that developed between male fetuses differ from rodents that developed between female fetuses in several aspects (Ryan and Vandenbergh, 2002).…”

Section: Testosterone Transfermentioning

confidence: 91%

The Effect of Sibling's Gender on Earnings, Education and Family Formation

Péter

Lundborg²,

Webbink³

2015

SSRN Journal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Terms of use: Documents in AbstractWe examine how the gender of a sibling affects earnings, education and family formation.Identification is complicated by parental preferences: if parents prefer certain sex compositions over others, children's gender affects not only the outcomes of other children but also the very existence of potential additional children. We address this problem by looking at dizygotic twins.In these cases, the two children are born at the same time, so parents cannot make decisions about one twin based on the gender of the other twin.We find that the gender of the sibling influences both men and women, but in a different way.Men with brothers earn more and are more likely to get married and have children than men with sisters. Women with sisters obtain lower education and give birth earlier than women with brothers. Our analysis shows that the family size channel cannot explain the findings. Instead, the most likely explanation is that siblings affect each other via various social mechanisms.

show abstract

Section: Testosterone Transfermentioning

confidence: 91%

The Effect of Sibling's Gender on Earnings, Education and Family Formation

Péter

Lundborg²,

Webbink³

2015

SSRN Journal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Quantitative examination of androgens in fetal rats shows that males and females have similar androgen content during much of gestation (Baum et al 1991;Weisz and Ward 1980). However, concentrations of androgens in males increase significantly late in gestation (Baum et al 1991;Houtsmuller et al 1995;vom Saal and Bronson 1980;Weisz and Ward 1980), reaching a peak around the critical developmental window of GDs 18-19 (Baum et al 1991). Several studies have suggested that this brief exposure to elevated androgens late in gestation sensitizes the developing male to androgen exposure during the neonatal period (Baum et al 1990;Hoepfner and Ward 1988;Tobet and Baum 1987).…”

Section: Natural Variation In Androgen Concentrations During Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The IUP refers to the random positioning of fetuses in utero such that a fetus can develop between two females (0M), a male and a female (1M), or between two males (2M). In these two species, the sex of the neighboring fetuses affects exposure to androgens and estradiol of the developing fetus (Clark et al 1991;vom Saal and Bronson 1980). Females that develop between two males (2M females) are exposed to higher levels of androgens than females that develop between two females (0M females).…”

Section: Natural Variation In Androgen Concentrations During Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Androgens and environmental antiandrogens affect reproductive development and play behavior in the Sprague-Dawley rat.

Hotchkiss

Ostby

VanDenburgh

et al. 2002

Environ Health Perspect

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In mammals, exposure to androgens early in development is essential for masculinization of the male reproductive phenotype. Male fetuses exposed to antiandrogens during perinatal life are permanently demasculinized in their morphology and physiology, whereas exposure to exogenous androgens permanently masculinizes females. In some litter-bearing species, proximity in utero of females to males can partially masculinize female siblings and alter their responsiveness to endocrine-disrupting compounds. However, in our strain of rat (CD-SD Charles River), intrauterine position does not significantly influence testosterone concentrations and anogenital distance of fetuses. In comparison, administration of testosterone propionate to pregnant females, at doses that doubled fetal female testosterone levels, did masculinize the reproductive system. Discovery of androgen-active chemicals in the environment has placed increased emphasis on describing the reproductive and behavioral effects of both natural and environmental androgens and antiandrogens. Recently, the effects of an antiandrogen, vinclozolin, on the brain and behavior were cited as a special concern by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in its risk assessment of this pesticide. In rats, one such behavior that is perinatally organized by androgens is social play. Males play more than females, and administration of exogenous androgens during the neonatal period alters the juvenile expression of this sexually dimorphic behavior. Vinclozolin is an androgen receptor antagonist that inhibits androgen-dependent tissue growth in vivo. We were interested in whether developmental exposure to vinclozolin could also alter androgen-dependent behaviors such as play. Neonatal male rats were injected on postnatal days (PNDs) 2 and 3 with corn oil, the pharmacologic antiandrogen flutamide (50 mg/kg), or vinclozolin (200 mg/kg). On PNDs 36-37 animals were observed for social play. Behaviors associated with general social activity such as sniffing and dorsal contact were unaffected by treatment. However, play behavior in males treated with flutamide or vinclozolin was significantly reduced, resembling levels of play characteristic of females rather than untreated males. Therefore, this study demonstrates that perinatal exposure to vinclozolin, an environmental antiandrogen, can alter androgen-dependent play behavior in the male rat.

show abstract

“…While we have advanced from the simplistic 'genes as adjectives' interpretation for behavioral analyses, we have yet to explore the contribution of the dynamics within the natal nest. Not only is the sex ratio of the litter an issue [108,89,18], but the ratio of the various genotypes is equally important variable, particularly in model systems that are the result of the mating of heterozygotes (HTZ) to yield litters of varying numbers of wildtype (WT), HTZ, and knockout (KO) young of both sexes (Fig. 2).…”

Section: Effects Of Sex Ratio and Genotype Ratio Of The Litter Influementioning

confidence: 99%

Epigenetics and its implications for behavioral neuroendocrinology

Crews

2008

Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology

146

115

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Individuals vary in their sociosexual behaviors and reactivity. How the organism interacts with the environment to produce this variation has been a focus in psychology since its inception as a scientific discipline. There is now no question that cumulative experiences throughout life history interact with genetic predispositions to shape the individual's behavior. Recent evidence suggests that events in past generations may also influence how an individual responds to events in their own life history. Epigenetics is the study of how the environment can affect the genome of the individual during its development as well as the development of its descendants, all without changing the DNA sequence. Several distinctions must be made if this research is to become a staple in behavioral neuroendocrinology. The first distinction concerns perspective, and the need to distinguish and appreciate, the differences between Molecular versus Molar epigenetics. Each has its own lineage of investigation, yet both appear to be unaware of one another. Second, it is important to distinguish the difference between Context-Dependent versus Germline-Dependent epigenetic modifications. In essence the difference is one of the mechanism of heritability or transmission within, as apposed to across, generations. This review illustrates these distinctions while describing several rodent models that have shown particular promise for unraveling the contribution of genetics and the environment on sociosexual behavior. The first focuses on genetically-modified mice and makes the point that the early litter environment alters subsequent brain activity and behavior. This work emphasizes the need to understand behavioral development when doing research with such animals. The second focuses on a new rat model in which the epigenome is permanently imprinted, an effect that crosses generations to impact the descendants without further exposure to the precipitating agent. This work raises the question of how events in generations past can have consequences at both the mechanistic, behavioral, and ultimately evolutionary levels.

show abstract

Sexual Characteristics of Adult Female Mice Are Correlated with Their Blood Testosterone Levels During Prenatal Development

Cited by 366 publications

References 17 publications

The Effect of Sibling's Gender on Earnings, Education and Family Formation

The Effect of Sibling's Gender on Earnings, Education and Family Formation

Androgens and environmental antiandrogens affect reproductive development and play behavior in the Sprague-Dawley rat.

Epigenetics and its implications for behavioral neuroendocrinology

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About