Ricci Lesley A, Schwartzer Jared J, Melloni Richard H
Behavioral Neuroscience Program, Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Horm Behav. 2009 Feb;55(2):348-55. doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2008.10.011. Epub 2008 Oct 31.
Anabolic androgenic steroid (AAS) treatment throughout adolescence facilitates offensive aggression in male Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus). The present study was conducted to investigate the role of the dopaminergic system in the modulation of AAS-induced aggressive behavior. Hamsters were administered AAS during adolescence, scored for offensive aggression using the resident-intruder paradigm, and then examined for alterations in DA immunoreactivity in brain regions implicated in the aggressive phenotype, including the anterior hypothalamus (AH), the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), the medial and central amygdala (MeA and CeA), the lateral septum (LS) and the ventrolateral hypothalamus (VLH). When compared with non-aggressive sesame-oil-treated controls, aggressive AAS-treated animals showed increased tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactivity in anterior hypothalamic subnuclei, namely the nucleus circularis (NC) and medial supraoptic nucleus (mSON). In addition, AAS-treated animals showed altered D(2) receptor expression in the AH and the VLH, as measured by D(2)-immunoreactivity. Together these results suggest that alterations in DA synthesis and function together with modifications in D(2) receptor expression in the AH may underlie neuroplastic events which facilitate AAS-induced aggression.
在整个青春期给予合成代谢雄激素类固醇（AAS）会促进雄性叙利亚仓鼠（金仓鼠）的攻击性。本研究旨在调查多巴胺能系统在调节AAS诱导的攻击行为中的作用。在青春期给仓鼠施用AAS，使用居住者-入侵者范式对攻击性进行评分，然后检查与攻击表型相关的脑区中多巴胺免疫反应性的变化，包括下丘脑前部（AH）、终纹床核（BNST）、内侧和中央杏仁核（MeA和CeA）、外侧隔区（LS）和腹外侧下丘脑（VLH）。与非攻击性的芝麻油处理对照组相比，攻击性的AAS处理动物在下丘脑前亚核，即圆形核（NC）和内侧视上核（mSON）中显示酪氨酸羟化酶免疫反应性增加。此外，通过D(2)免疫反应性测量，AAS处理的动物在AH和VLH中显示D(2)受体表达改变。这些结果共同表明，DA合成和功能的改变以及AH中D(2)受体表达的改变可能是促进AAS诱导攻击的神经可塑性事件的基础。
