Neonatal androgen maintains sexually dimorphic muscles in the absence of innervation.

Abstract

We examined the site of androgen action in maintaining the sexually dimorphic spinal nucleus of the bulbocavernosus (SNB) and its target perineal muscles, the bulbocavernosus (BC) and levator ani (LA), in rats. To determine whether androgen action on SNB motoneurons is crucial for BC/LA survival, we removed SNB cells in newborn female rats by lumbosacral spinalectomy, administered testosterone propionate (TP) on days 1 and 3 of life, and examined for the presence of BC/LA muscles in adulthood. BC/LA muscles were present in all TP-treated spinalectomized females, and staining of these muscles with alpha-bungarotoxin or for acetylcholinesterase showed no evidence of cholinergic innervation. Thus, complete neonatal denervation of the BC/LA does not prevent TP from sparing these muscles, suggesting that androgen acts directly upon BC/LA muscles to maintain them during development. This androgenic maintenance of the BC/LA may be crucial for the survival of SNB motoneurons.