Department of Psychiatry & Human Behavior, Division of Neurobiology & Behavior Research, University of Mississippi Medical Center, 2500 N State Street, Jackson, MS 39216, USA.
Comprehensive Neuropsychological Services, PLLC, 490 Western Avenue, Albany, NY 12203, USA.
Curr Neuropharmacol. 2023;21(7):1606-1616. doi: 10.2174/1570159X21666221019114535.
Masculine sexual behaviors are dependent on androstane-derived steroids; however, the modulatory effects of mating, and of mating control, on androstane neurosteroidogenesis remain largely unknown.
Herein, we investigated the effects of mating control, prior sexual experience, and age on brain region specific neurosteroidogenic responses in male rats.
Effects of acute sexual experience were tested in naïve male rats that either remained sexually- naïve, were exposed to a standard mating chamber, or were either given control of the mating pace in a standard mating chamber (male control) or mated wherein the female stimulus rat controlled the mating pace in a paced-mating chamber (female control). Aged (10-12 months) sexually responsive male rats were similarly euthanized from the homecage or engaged in male controlled or female controlled mating. All rats were euthanized immediately following exposure conditions for radioimmunoassay of steroids in midbrain, hypothalamus, hippocampus and cortex.
Consummatory sexual behavior in male vs. female-controlled mating paradigms was altered by age and prior sexual experience. Male-controlled mating increased androstane neurosteroid metabolism, such that complementary increases in the testosterone (T) metabolite 5α-androstane-3α-17β- diol (3α-diol) in the midbrain and hypothalamus of male rats corresponded to decreases in the prohormone, T. 3α-diol were increased in the hippocampus in response to the context alone, and to a lesser degree in response to mating. Mating diminished neurosteroidogenesis in the cortex. Neurosteroidogenesis was overall reduced in aged male rats compared to naïve controls, however, these effects were more prominent in sexually non-responsive aged male rats.
Extending previous findings, these results indicate differential production of androstane neurosteroids in a mating exposure, age and brain region dependent manner.
雄性性行为依赖于雄烷衍生的类固醇；然而，交配以及交配控制对雄烷神经甾体生成的调节作用在很大程度上仍不清楚。
本研究旨在探讨交配控制、先前的性经验和年龄对雄性大鼠大脑特定区域神经甾体生成反应的影响。
在初次接受性行为的雄性大鼠中测试急性性经验的影响，这些雄性大鼠要么保持性未成熟，要么暴露于标准交配室中，要么在标准交配室中控制交配节奏（雄性控制），要么在 paced-mating 室中由雌性刺激大鼠控制交配节奏（雌性控制）。同样，从家庭笼中取出年龄较大（10-12 个月）、有反应的雄性大鼠，或让其进行雄性控制或雌性控制的交配。所有大鼠在暴露于上述条件后立即安乐死，用于检测中脑、下丘脑、海马和皮质中的类固醇放射免疫分析。
在雄性与雌性控制的交配范式中，完成性行为的能力会受到年龄和先前性经验的影响。雄性控制的交配增加了雄烷神经甾体的代谢，使得中脑和下丘脑的睾酮（T）代谢产物 5α-雄烷-3α-17β-二醇（3α-二醇）相应增加，而 T 的前体减少。仅在环境刺激下，海马中的 3α-二醇增加，而在交配时则增加较少。皮质中的神经甾体生成减少。与初次接受性行为的对照组相比，老年雄性大鼠的神经甾体生成总体减少，但在性反应能力下降的老年雄性大鼠中，这些影响更为明显。
这些结果扩展了先前的发现，表明雄烷神经甾体以交配暴露、年龄和大脑区域依赖的方式进行差异生成。
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