De Vries G J, al-Shamma H A
Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst 01003.
J Neurobiol. 1990 Jul;21(5):686-93. doi: 10.1002/neu.480210503.
Vasopressin (AVP) immunoreactivity in cells and projections of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST) and medial amygdaloid nucleus (MA) depends on gonadal steroids. In addition, the AVP projections from the BST show denser fiber staining in males than in females. To study whether these differences depend on different hormone levels in adulthood, male and female rats were gonadectomized and similarly treated with testosterone for 4 weeks prior to sacrifice. Immunocytochemistry showed that males had significantly more AVP-immunoreactive (AVP-IR) cells in the BST and significantly denser AVP-IR projections from this nucleus to the lateral septum, lateral habenular nucleus, and periaqueductal central gray than did females. The number of AVP-IR cells in the MA nucleus was not statistically different, but denser AVP-IR fiber networks were found in the MA and ventral hippocampus, which receives its input from the MA. No differences were found in the anteroventral portion of the periventricular nucleus and the dorsomedial nucleus of the hypothalamus that receive their AVP innervation from the suprachiasmatic nucleus. These results indicate that the sex difference in the steroid-sensitive AVP pathways depends on other factors besides circulating hormone levels in adulthood.
终纹床核（BST）和杏仁内侧核（MA）的细胞及投射中的血管加压素（AVP）免疫反应性取决于性腺类固醇。此外，BST发出的AVP投射在雄性中比在雌性中显示出更密集的纤维染色。为了研究这些差异是否取决于成年期不同的激素水平，在处死前，对雄性和雌性大鼠进行去势，并同样用睾酮处理4周。免疫细胞化学显示，与雌性相比，雄性大鼠的BST中具有显著更多的AVP免疫反应性（AVP-IR）细胞，并且从该核到外侧隔、外侧缰核和导水管周围中央灰质的AVP-IR投射显著更密集。MA核中AVP-IR细胞的数量没有统计学差异，但在MA和接受MA输入的腹侧海马中发现了更密集的AVP-IR纤维网络。在从视交叉上核接受AVP神经支配的室周核腹前部和下丘脑背内侧核中未发现差异。这些结果表明，类固醇敏感的AVP通路中的性别差异除了取决于成年期循环激素水平外，还取决于其他因素。
