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Sex Differences In The Effects Of Testosterone And Its Metabolites On Vasopressin Messenger Rna Levels In The Bed Nucleus Of The Stria Terminalis Of Rats, Geert De Vries, Zuoxin Wang, Nina A. Bullock, Suzanne Numan

Neuroscience Institute Faculty Publications

Male rats have about two times as many steroid-responsive vasopressin-immunoreactive (AVP-ir) neurons in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST) as female rats. This sex difference does not depend on differences in circulating hormone levels, since it persists in males and females that are treated with similar levels of testosterone. To analyze the cellular basis of this sex difference, we compared the effects of testosterone and its metabolites on AVP mRNA expression in the BST of males and females that were gonadectomized at 3 months of age.

When rats received implants of Silastic tubing filled with testosterone, males had …

The Role Of Septal Vasopressin Innervation In Paternal Behavior In Prairie Voles (Microtus Ochrogaster), Zuoxin Wang, Craig F. Ferris, Geert De Vries

Neuroscience Institute Faculty Publications

After being paired with females, male prairie voles show major changes in their social behaviors among which is an increase in paternal responsiveness. These changes are accompanied by fluctuations in the density of the [Arg8]vasopressin-immunoreactive (AVP-ir) fibers in the lateral septum, suggesting that septal AVP might be involved in these changes. To explore a possible involvement of septal AVP in paternal responsiveness, we tested whether injections of saline, AVP, or the V1a receptor antagonist [1-(beta-mercapto-beta, beta-cyclopentamethylenepropionic acid),2-(O-methyltyrosine]AVP [d(CH2)5Tyr(Me)AVP] into the lateral septum influenced the four most prominent paternal activities displayed by male prairie voles; grooming, crouching over, contacting, and retrieving …