Sexually dimorphic enhancement by estradiol of male urinary odor detection thresholds in mice.

ABSTRACT: We asked whether sex and adult estrogen exposure influence the detection thresholds for urinary odors used by mice to guide their social behaviors. Gonadectomized (GDX) male and female mice were trained on a two-choice food-motivated task to determine detection thresholds for male urinary odors. There was no significant sex difference in the detection of these odors by GDX subjects without hormone replacement. However, during treatment with estradiol benzoate (EB), GDX females, but not GDX males, showed an enhanced ability to detect these odors. To investigate a possible mechanism for this effect, the authors measured GDX females' odor-sampling behavior (sniffing) by monitoring intranasal pressure transients during performance of the urinary odor detection task with and without EB treatmen

SUBMITTER: Sorwell KG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2866425 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature