Developmental programming: reproductive endocrinopathies in the adult female sheep after prenatal testosterone treatment are reflected in altered ontogeny of GnRH afferents.

ABSTRACT: The GnRH system represents a useful model of long-term neural plasticity. An unexplored facet of this plasticity relates to the ontogeny of GnRH neural afferents during critical periods when the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis is highly susceptible to perturbation by sex steroids. Sheep treated with testosterone (T) in utero exhibit profound reproductive neuroendocrine dysfunctions during their lifespan. The current study tested the hypothesis that these changes are associated with alterations in the normal ontogeny of GnRH afferents and glial associations. Adult pregnant sheep (n=50) were treated with vehicle [control (CONT)] or T daily from gestational day (GD)30 to GD90. CONT and T fetuses (n=4-6/treatment per age group) were removed by cesarean section on GD90 and GD140 and the bra

SUBMITTER: Jansen HT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3199006 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature