Sexually dimorphic expression of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) immunoreactivity by rat mediobasal hypothalamic neurons.

Although the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus is a sexually dimorphic region of the rat brain, there are no reports of sex differences in the number of neurons containing specific neuropeptides within this structure. As cells synthesizing calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) have been shown to exhibit sex differences in other steroid-receptive regions of the rat brain, we examined whether the CGRP-immunoreactive cells located in the mediobasal hypothalamus may also be sexually dimorphic. Immunostaining of sections from male and female colchicine-treated rats revealed a small population of CGRP-immunoreactive cells distributed throughout the arcuate nucleus. Immunoreactive cells were also detected in the lateral hypothalamic perifornical region, dorsomedial, posterior periventricular and ventral tuberomammillary nuclei, and zona incerta. Cell count analysis revealed approximately twice as many CGRP-immunoreactive cell profiles in the rostral (P < 0.01), middle (P < 0.001), and caudal (P < 0.01) thirds of the arcuate nucleus of male rats compared with females. A significant sex difference in immunoreactive cell numbers (male > female) was also detected within the caudal dorsomedial nucleus (P < 0.05) but not in the posterior periventricular nucleus, perifornical region and zona incerta. Although fibers immunoreactive for CGRP were identified in low density throughout the mediobasal hypothalamus, only female rats displayed prominent fiber staining in the periventricular region. Double-labelling immunofluorescence experiments revealed that the CGRP-immunoreactive cells within the zona incerta, but not the hypothalamus, were also immunoreactive for tyrosine hydroxylase; at least 60% of the A13 dopaminergic neurons co-express CGRP. These results provide evidence that sex differences exist in the number of specific neuropeptide-synthesizing cells within the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus and provide further examples of cell populations expressing CGRP immunoreactivity in a sexually dimorphic manner.