Rowe D W, Erskine M S
Department of Biology, Boston University, MA 02215.
Brain Res. 1993 Sep 3;621(1):25-34. doi: 10.1016/0006-8993(93)90294-w.
In order to identify brain areas which receive afferent genitosensory input important for mating-induced prolactin release, we compared numbers of Fos-immunoreactive (Fos-IR) cells in brains of intact estrous females 1 h after differential mating stimulation. Numbers of Fos-IR cells were approximately 3-fold higher in the preoptic area (POA), medial amygdala (mAMYG) and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) when females received intromissions (I) from males than when they received mounts-without-intromission (M) or were taken directly from their home cage. In the ventrolateral portion of the ventromedial nucleus (VL-VMN), the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of the hypothalamus and the midbrain central tegmental field (CTF) numbers of Fos-IR cells were significantly higher than home cage levels in groups of females exposed to males regardless of type of mating stimulation received. Bilateral transection of the pelvic nerve eliminated the increases in Fos-IR in POA and mAMYG which occurred in sham-transected females in these areas after intromissions from males. These data demonstrate that afferent input via the pelvic nerve activates cell groups within the POA, mAMYG and BNST and suggests that these areas may be involved in initiation of mating-induced prolactin surges.
为了确定接受对交配诱导的催乳素释放至关重要的传入生殖感觉输入的脑区，我们比较了在不同交配刺激后1小时完整发情期雌性动物大脑中Fos免疫反应性（Fos-IR）细胞的数量。当雌性动物接受来自雄性的插入（I）时，视前区（POA）、内侧杏仁核（mAMYG）和终纹床核（BNST）中的Fos-IR细胞数量比它们接受无插入的爬跨（M）或直接从其饲养笼中取出时高出约3倍。在腹内侧核的腹外侧部分（VL-VMN）、下丘脑室旁核（PVN）和中脑中央被盖区（CTF），无论接受何种交配刺激，暴露于雄性的雌性动物组中的Fos-IR细胞数量均显著高于饲养笼中的水平。双侧切断盆神经消除了假切断雌性动物在接受雄性插入后这些区域中POA和mAMYG的Fos-IR增加。这些数据表明，通过盆神经的传入输入激活了POA、mAMYG和BNST内的细胞群，并表明这些区域可能参与交配诱导的催乳素激增的启动。
