The agonistic adrenal: melatonin elicits female aggression via regulation of adrenal androgens.

ABSTRACT: Classic findings have demonstrated an important role for sex steroids as regulators of aggression, but this relationship is lacking within some environmental contexts. In mammals and birds, the adrenal androgen dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), a non-gonadal precursor of biologically active steroids, has been linked to aggression. Although females, like males, use aggression when competing for limited resources, the mechanisms underlying female aggression remain understudied. Here, we propose a previously undescribed endocrine mechanism regulating female aggression via direct action of the pineal hormone melatonin on adrenal androgens. We examined this in a solitary hamster species, Phodopus sungorus, in which both sexes are highly territorial across the seasons, and display increased aggress

SUBMITTER: Rendon NM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4685819 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature