Effect of exogenous androgen on structures of sexually dimorphism nucleus in preoptic area and anteroventral periventricular nucleus before sexual differentiation in female rats / 浙江大学学报·医学版

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effects of androgen on sexually dimorphism nucleus in preoptic area (SDN-POA) and anteroventral periventricular nucleus (AVPV) before sexual differentiation of the brain in female rats.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Neonatal female SD rats (n=12) were randomly divided into two groups androgen group and control group. Twenty-four hours after birth animals were subjected to intraperitoneal injection of 50 microl of testosterone propionate (TP,10.0 g/L) or aseptic oil as control. The rats were sacrificed 60 days after the injection and the brains were collected for crystal violet staining. LEICA Q Win system was applied in detecting the boundaries of SDN-POA and AVPV, then the volumes of SDN-POA and AVPV were calculated.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The volumes of SDN-POA in androgen group were significantly larger than those in control group [(16.77+/-2.68) vs (8.99+/-1.42)mm(3)x10(-3), P<0.01], while the volumes of AVPV in androgen group were significantly smaller than those in control group [(9.14+/-1.16) vs (14.62+/-2.80)mm(3)x10(-3), P<0.01].</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Exogenous androgen rendered before sexual differentiation in female rats results in enlargement of SDN-POA volumes and reduction of AVPV.</p>