Estrous cycle fluctuations in sex and ingestive behavior are accentuated by exercise or cold ambient temperatures

Abdulhay, Amir; Benton, Noah A.; Klingerman, Candice M.; Krishnamoorthy, Kaila; Brožek, Josef; Schneider, Jill E.

doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2014.04.016

Cited by 8 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…In the first experiment, groups of estrous-cycling hamsters were fed ad libitum while they were housed at either 5 °C (cold) or 22 °C (control), and then tested for appetitive and consummatory behavior for 90 min on each day of the estrous cycle. In females housed at 22 °C, high levels of sexual motivation and low levels of food hoarding were seen every day of the estrous cycle ( Abdulhay et al 2014 ), similar to the pattern that emerged from the experiments of Klingerman et al (2010) . In contrast, in females housed at 5 °C, high levels of food hoarding and low levels of sexual motivation were seen on three out of the four estrous cycle days, similar to the pattern that emerged in food-restricted females.…”

Section: Are Behavioral Priorities Set By Cues From Food Availabilitysupporting

confidence: 61%

“…A mild level of food restriction, i.e., 75% of ad libitum intake, stimulates food hoarding ( Fig. 3B ) on the infertile days of the cycle, but these food-restriction-induced effects are absent at the time of estrus ( Schneider et al 2007 ; Klingerman et al 2010 ; Klingerman et al 2011a , 2011b ; Abdulhay et al 2014 ). In summary, when food availability is unlimited, the effects of fluctuating ovarian hormones on behavior are masked, and when the female is subjected to mild food restriction, the effects of ovarian steroids on behavior are revealed in sharp relief ( Fig.…”

Section: The Behavioral Effects Of Ovarian Steroids Are Masked By mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Later, when these two groups were tested in the preference apparatus, females housed with running wheels showed low levels of appetitive sex behaviors on three out of the 4 days of the estrous cycle, and high levels of sexual motivation restricted to the peri-ovulatory day, similar to the pattern of sexual motivation seen in cold-housed females and in food-restricted females. These changes in behavior occurred despite no significant inhibitory effects of cold ambient temperature or access to running wheels on the serum levels of estradiol or progesterone ( Abdulhay et al 2014 ). We noted one interesting difference between females with running wheels and females cold-housed.…”

Section: Are Behavioral Priorities Set By Cues From Food Availabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In general, all three energetic challenges (food restriction, housing at cold temperatures, and increased wheel running) unmask the estrous cycle fluctuations in sexual motivation that are obscured in laboratory conditions, i.e., isolation in a small cage with an overabundance of food ( Abdulhay et al 2014 ). This is highly significant because it suggests that behavioral neuroendocrinologists miss clues to the underlying mechanisms when they study animals isolated from opposite-sex conspecifics with unlimited food availability and few behavioral options.…”

Section: Are Behavioral Priorities Set By Cues From Food Availabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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RFamide-related Peptide-3 and the Trade-off between Reproductive and Ingestive Behavior

et al. 2017

Integrative and Comparative Biology

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SynopsisIngestive and sex behaviors are important for individual survival and reproductive success, but when environmental energy availability is limited, individuals of many different species make a trade-off, forfeiting sex for ingestive behavior. For example, food-deprived female Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) forego vaginal scent marking and lordosis (sex behaviors) in favor of foraging, hoarding, and eating food (ingestive behavior). Reproductive processes tend to be energetically costly, and individual survival requires homeostasis in metabolic energy. Thus, during energetic challenges, the chances of survival are enhanced by decreasing the energy expended on reproductive processes. The entire hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) system is inhibited by severe energetic challenges, but comparatively little is known about the effects of mild energetic challenges. We hypothesized that (1) a trade-off is made between sex and ingestive behavior even when the level of food restriction is insufficient to inhibit the HPG system; (2) mild energetic challenges force a trade-off between appetitive ingestive and sex behaviors, but not consummatory versions of the same behaviors; and (3) the trade-off is orchestrated by ovarian steroid modulation of RFamide-related peptide 3 (RFRP-3). In other species, RFRP-3, an ortholog of avian gonadotropin-inhibitory hormone, is implicated in control of behavior in response to energetic challenges and stressful stimuli. In support of our three hypotheses, there is a “dose-response” effect of food restriction and re-feeding on the activation of RFRP-3-immunoreactive cells in the dorsomedial hypothalamus and on appetitive behaviors (food hoarding and sexual motivation), but not on consummatory behaviors (food intake and lordosis), with no significant effect on circulating levels of estradiol or progesterone. The effect of food restriction on the activation of RFRP-3 cells is modulated at the time of estrus in gonadally-intact females and in ovariectomized females treated with progesterone alone or with estradiol plus progesterone. Intracerebral treatment with RFRP-3 results in significant decreases in sexual motivation and results in significant but small increases in food hoarding in hamsters fed ad libitum. These and other results are consistent with the idea that ovarian steroids and RFRP-3 are part of a system that orchestrates trade-offs in appetitive behaviors in environments where energy availability fluctuates.

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Section: Are Behavioral Priorities Set By Cues From Food Availabilitysupporting

confidence: 61%

Section: The Behavioral Effects Of Ovarian Steroids Are Masked By mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Are Behavioral Priorities Set By Cues From Food Availabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Are Behavioral Priorities Set By Cues From Food Availabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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RFamide-related Peptide-3 and the Trade-off between Reproductive and Ingestive Behavior

et al. 2017

Integrative and Comparative Biology

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“…The female reproductive system is inhibited under conditions of low energy availability in most species studied (reviewed by [1–5]), but the underlying mechanisms differ depending on the level of energy deficit [6–10]. Severe energetic challenges, such as food deprivation, inhibit estrous cyclicity and the female hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) system, and the phenomenon has been well studied in species from every mammalian order, including Homo sapiens (reviewed by [1–5]).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Food restriction-induced changes in motivation differ with stages of the estrous cycle and are closely linked to RFamide-related peptide-3 but not kisspeptin in Syrian hamsters

Benton

Russo

Brožek

et al. 2018

Physiology & Behavior

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We tested the hypothesis that the effects of food restriction on behavioral motivation are mediated by one or both of the RFamide peptides, RFamide-related peptide-3 (RFRP-3) and kisspeptin (Kp) in female Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus). Female hamsters fed ad libitum and given a choice between food and adult male hamsters are highly motivated to visit males instead of food on all four days of the estrous cycle, but after 8days of mild food restriction (75% of ad libitum intake) they shift their preference toward food every day of the estrous cycle until the day of estrus, when they shift their preference back toward the males. In support of a role for RFRP-3 in these behavioral changes, the preference for food and the activation of RFRP-3-immunoreactive (Ir) cells in the dorsomedial hypothalamus (DMH) showed the same estrous cycle pattern in food-restricted females, but no association was observed between behavior and the activation of Kp cells in the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus or preoptic area. Next, we tested the hypothesis that food-restriction-induced activation of RFRP-3-Ir cells is modulated by high levels of ovarian steroids at the time of estrus. In support of this idea, on nonestrous days, mild food restriction increased activation of RFRP-3-Ir cells, but failed to do so on the day of estrus even though this level of food restriction did not significantly decrease circulating concentrations of estradiol or progesterone. Furthermore, in ovariectomized females, food-restriction-induced increases in activation of RFRP-3-Ir cells were blocked by systemic treatment with progesterone alone, estradiol plus progesterone, but not estradiol alone. Central infusion with RFRP-3 in ad libitum-fed females significantly decreased sexual motivation and produced significant increases in 90-minute food hoarding, in support of the hypothesis that elevated central levels of RFRP-3 are sufficient to create the shift in behavioral motivation in females fed ad libitum. Together, these results are consistent with the hypothesis that high levels of ingestive motivation are promoted during the nonfertile phase of the estrous cycle by elevated activation of RFRP-3-Ir cells, and RFRP-3-Ir cellular activation is modulated by ovarian steroids around the time of estrus, thereby diverting attention away from food and increasing sexual motivation.

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Estradiol-dependent hypocretinergic/orexinergic behaviors throughout the estrous cycle

2022

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Rationale The female menstrual or estrous cycle and its associated fluctuations in circulating estradiol (E2), progesterone, and other gonadal hormones alter orexin or hypocretin peptide production and receptor activity. Depending on the estrous cycle phase, the transcription of prepro-orexin mRNA, post-translational modification of orexin peptide, and abundance of orexin receptors change in a brain region-specific manner. The most dramatic changes occur in the hypothalamus, which is considered the starting point of the hypothalamic-pituitary–gonadal axis as well as the hub of orexin-producing neurons. Thus, hypothalamus-regulated behaviors, including arousal, feeding, reward processing, and the stress response depend on coordinated efforts between E2, progesterone, and the orexin system. Given the rise of orexin therapeutics for various neuropsychiatric conditions including insomnia and affective disorders, it is important to delineate the behavioral outcomes of this drug class in both sexes, as well as within different time points of the female reproductive cycle. Objectives Summarize how the menstrual or estrous cycle affects orexin system functionality in animal models in order to predict how orexin pharmacotherapies exert varying degrees of behavioral effects across the dynamic hormonal milieu.

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Estrous cycle fluctuations in sex and ingestive behavior are accentuated by exercise or cold ambient temperatures

Cited by 8 publications

References 36 publications

RFamide-related Peptide-3 and the Trade-off between Reproductive and Ingestive Behavior

RFamide-related Peptide-3 and the Trade-off between Reproductive and Ingestive Behavior

Food restriction-induced changes in motivation differ with stages of the estrous cycle and are closely linked to RFamide-related peptide-3 but not kisspeptin in Syrian hamsters

Estradiol-dependent hypocretinergic/orexinergic behaviors throughout the estrous cycle

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