ECE2017 Eposter Presentations: Reproductive Endocrinology Neuroendocrinology (2 abstracts)
Prenatal testosterone exposure increases anxiety-like behavior in female rats
Aleksandra Rasic-Markovic 1 , Djuro Macut 2 , Dragan Hrncic 1 , Valentina Cirkovic 1 , Bojana Rankov-Petrovic 1 , Nikola Sutulovic 1 & Olivera Stanojlovic 1
1Institute of Medical Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia; 2Clinic for Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is characterized by excessive androgen secretion and women with PCOS are at risk of developing anxiety disorders. Maternal testosterone levels in humans have been shown to affect brain development and to be correlated to mental function. During pregnancy, women with PCOS display high circulating androgen levels that may affect the fetus and increase the risk of mood disorders in offspring. This study investigated whether maternal androgen excess causes anxiety-like behavior in offspring. Ten pregnant Wistar rats were injected s.c. with 100 mg/kg testosterone undecanoate (TU) on gestational day 20, while control (C) rats received only solvent. To investigate the presence of anxiety-like behavior in female offspring of TU and C dams, the elevated plus maze (EPM) and open field (OF) test was performed. In the EPM test, offspring of TU dams displayed decrease in the number of open arm entries and in the percentage of time spent on open arms. OF test showed altered pattern of locomotor activity in female TU offspring. Numerous data demonstrate that the early life environment, including in utero plays a key role in later life behavior. The results of our research suggest that prenatal testosterone exposure increases anxiety-like behavior in female offspring.
Volume 49
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Endocrine Abstracts
ISSN 1470-3947 (print) | ISSN 1479-6848 (online)
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