Testosterone aromatization in rat brain is modulated by social environment

Prisco, Concetta Lupo Di; Lucarini, N.; Dessì‐Fulgheri, Francesco

doi:10.1016/0031-9384(78)90230-5

Cited by 46 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Drickamer 1973;Wingfield & Moore 1987). Isolation housing can alter the neural aromatization of androgens (Di Prisco et al 1978), a process considered necessary for the expression of inter-male aggression. In addition, the rearing and testing context (especially presence or absence of females, e.g.…”

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confidence: 99%

Testosterone and competitive ability in male house mice, Mus musculus: laboratory and field studies

Zielinski

Vandenbergh

1993

Animal Behaviour

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Abstract. Testosterone enhances aggression and can facilitate dominance in mammals, but most studies have been conducted on laboratory strains of mice and in simple environments. Unlike previous studies, laboratory and field tests were conducted using wild house mice, Mus musculus, to determine whether males with high, but physiological, testosterone levels (High T) would achieve dominance compared with males with low testosterone levels (Low T). All males were castrated and androgen was replaced with a single injection of testosterone enanthate, a long-acting androgen. At 8 days post-treatment the mean testosterone concentration in High T males was 5 . 1 ng/ml, whereas the level in Low T males was 1 . 3 ng/ml. Contests in the laboratory revealed that High T males achieved dominance over Low T males in the presence of females. In the field, equal numbers of High and Low T males, and a corresponding number of females, were released on three highway islands at densities equivalent to the highest density reported on similar sites. Periodic retrapping produced a capture history for males in each group and differences in survival were analysed using the program SURVIV. High T males had a higher probability of survival than Low T males on one island, but on the other two islands the higher capture rates of High T males were not statistically greater than those for Low T males. Of those that survived to the first trapping episode, the High T males had greater subsequent longevity than Low T males. On all three islands High T males were caught more frequently at feeding stations that were established to enhance food competition. There were no differences among the home range sizes of High T males, Low T males and females. However, on two of the islands the ranges of High T males overlapped more of the ranges of resident females than those of Low T males. The findings from this study, using testosterone-treated subjects, suggest that natural variation in basal testosterone also may affect competitive ability in wild house mice.

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Testosterone and competitive ability in male house mice, Mus musculus: laboratory and field studies

Zielinski

Vandenbergh

1993

Animal Behaviour

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“…However. T conversion to DHT in adult male rats is influenced by light conditions [Shapiro et al, 1976] and we have shown that social stimuli modulate both this conversion and T aromatization in the hypo thalamus [Dessi-Fulgheri and Lupo, 1982;Lupo di Prisco et al, 1978]. This suggests that environmental, rather than hormonal, fac tors are important in controlling T metabo lism in the hypothalamus.…”

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confidence: 88%

“…The low T level in the control group is due to the fact that the animals were maintained from 25 days of age on in isolation, a condi tion which causes a decrease in circulating plasma T [Lupo di Prisco et al, 1978]. Plasma E2 did not show any decrease follow ing castration.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In some tissues, like the pituitary gland, castra tion increases and treatment with T decreases the 5a-reduction suggesting a role of T in reg ulating these enzymes, while only minor ef fects were seen in the hypothalamus follow ing these treatments [Massa et al, 1972[Massa et al, , 1975Martini, 1976]. Lupo di Prisco et al [1978] reported a reverse correlation between hypothalamic aromatization and plasma T levels suggesting a role of androgens in regu lating the aromatizing enzyme systems. The present study was aimed at testing this hy pothesis, by observing the effects of castra tion on the hypothalamic T metabolism.…”

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Effect of Castration on Hypothalamic Testosterone Metabolism in the Male Rat

Dessì‐Fulgheri

Lupo

Dahlöf³

et al. 1983

Horm Res

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In vitro studies were performed of hypothalamic testosterone (T) metabolism 30 days after castration of adult male rats. No changes were seen in T conversion into dihydrotesterone and estrogens in the castrated rats. Plasma T levels were decreased while plasma estradiol concentrations did not differ from those of intact controls. It was suggested that the hypothalamic T metabolism probably is not androgen dependent.

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“…Behavioral aspects of aging regarding explorativity in rats (Goodrick, 1966;Dessi-Fulgheri, 1978) are related with a decrement of activity in aged animals. Bronstein (1972) in his studies with animals aged from 31 to 116 days found that the youngest group had the highest locomotor activity.…”

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Endocrine and Behavioral Modifications in Aging Male Rats

Prisco¹,

Dessì‐Fulgheri²

1980

Horm Res

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Endocrine and behavioral effects of age and aging have been studied in 4 groups of Sprague-Dawley male rats (2, 6, 12, 24 months old). Plasma testosterone decreases after 6 months of age, plasma estradiol decreases from 2 to 6 months, then it increases with age and decreases again with aging (from 12 to 24 months). Aromatization of testosterone in brain tissue is similar in 2-, 12- and 24-month-old rats, but at 6 months a significant increase is observed. Testosterone biosynthesized in the gonad from dehydroepiandrosterone increases from 2 to 6 months, then it decreases, while the other metabolites of dehydroepiandrosterone show an increment with age. Corticosterone and 17α-hydroxyprogesterone biosynthesized in the adrenal decrease with aging. Explorative and loco-motor activity decreases with age and aging, while emotionality decreases from 2 to 12 months, but it increases with aging. These results indicate that endocrine equilibrium is remarkably altered by aging process showing a decrease of plasma sexual hormones and of gonadal activity. The decrement of aromatization of testosterone in the brain, which occurs between 6 and 12 months, is correlated with the decrement of plasma testosterone. It could be hypothesized that the hormones of the brain-pituitary-gonad axis are involved in the control of explorative behavior or that both hormonal and behavioral parameters are controlled by a common factor.

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Testosterone aromatization in rat brain is modulated by social environment

Cited by 46 publications

References 27 publications

Testosterone and competitive ability in male house mice, Mus musculus: laboratory and field studies

Testosterone and competitive ability in male house mice, Mus musculus: laboratory and field studies

Effect of Castration on Hypothalamic Testosterone Metabolism in the Male Rat

Endocrine and Behavioral Modifications in Aging Male Rats

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