Abstract:When administered during the critical perinatal period, estrogen permanently modifies both male and female reproductive function. This study evaluated the influence of exogenous estrogen administered during this time on the hypothalamic LHRH content and on gonadotropin secretion in adult male and female rats. LHRH content in the preoptic-anterior hypothalamic (PO/AH) and midhypothalamic (MH) areas of neonatally estrogenized rats (1 mg on postpartum day 2) and of control male and female rats during the estrous … Show more
“…In rodents, the perinatal gonadal steroid environment has been reported to have permanent effects on LHRH secretion and content within the central nervous system [5,6, II,12], sexual be havior [I, 7, 9, 13, 16], neural circuitry and neuronal mor phology [I. 2, 7-10, 13, 22-24, 26, 27, 30].…”
The total number of LHRH cells and the distribution of LHRH cell morphological subtypes (classified as smooth or irregular LHRH cells) was investigated in adult male and female rats that received neonatal gonadectomies using light- and electron-microscopic immunocytochemistry. An identical number of immunoreactive LHRH cells (about 1,200) was observed in both treated and control animals. Both LHRH cell subtypes were present in treated animals, and the total number of each LHRH cell subtype and their distributions were similar to that seen in the control animals. At the EM level, LHRH cell subtypes from gonadectomized animals had similar morphological characteristics as have been described for normal adult rats. Synapses were present on both smooth and irregular LHRH cells of treated animals. These data indicate that the removal of gonadal steroids shortly after birth does not alter the overall LHRH cell number and distribution, nor the development of characteristic LHRH cell morphologies.
“…In rodents, the perinatal gonadal steroid environment has been reported to have permanent effects on LHRH secretion and content within the central nervous system [5,6, II,12], sexual be havior [I, 7, 9, 13, 16], neural circuitry and neuronal mor phology [I. 2, 7-10, 13, 22-24, 26, 27, 30].…”
The total number of LHRH cells and the distribution of LHRH cell morphological subtypes (classified as smooth or irregular LHRH cells) was investigated in adult male and female rats that received neonatal gonadectomies using light- and electron-microscopic immunocytochemistry. An identical number of immunoreactive LHRH cells (about 1,200) was observed in both treated and control animals. Both LHRH cell subtypes were present in treated animals, and the total number of each LHRH cell subtype and their distributions were similar to that seen in the control animals. At the EM level, LHRH cell subtypes from gonadectomized animals had similar morphological characteristics as have been described for normal adult rats. Synapses were present on both smooth and irregular LHRH cells of treated animals. These data indicate that the removal of gonadal steroids shortly after birth does not alter the overall LHRH cell number and distribution, nor the development of characteristic LHRH cell morphologies.
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