Sexually dimorphic regulation of estrogen receptor α mRNA in the ventromedial hypothalamus of adult whiptail lizards is testosterone dependent

Abstract

Female, but not male, whiptail lizards will respond to exogenous estrogen with an increase in estrogen receptor α (ERα) mRNA in the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH). The current study tested whether differences in long-term testosterone exposure may be responsible for this sex difference. In the first experiment, female whiptails were gonadectomized and implanted for 6 weeks with either a Silastic capsule containing testosterone or an empty capsule after which the implant was removed. In a second experiment, male whiptail lizards were castrated for 1 week or for 6 weeks. In both experiments animals were then injected with either estradiol benzoate or steroid suspension vehicle and the brains collected 24 h later. Brain mRNA expression was assayed using in situ hybridization. Chronic testosterone treatment reduced estrogen-induced ERα mRNA levels (number of grains per cell) in the VMH in females. In contrast, there were no significant effects of time after castration or estrogen treatment on induction of ERα mRNA in the VMH in males. The abundance of estrogen-induced ERα mRNA in the VMH, therefore, appears to be responsive to testosterone environment in the female but not in the male, suggesting a difference in this species between the sexes in the mechanism of steroid receptor regulation.