Testosterone regulates androgen and estrogen receptor immunoreactivity in rat substantia nigra pars reticulata

Abstract

At postnatal day (PN)1, there are sex differences in gonadal receptor expression in the rat substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNR). Male pups have lower levels of androgen receptor (AR) and estrogen receptor (ER)β immunoreactivity (IR) compared to female pups, while ERα IR is equally expressed in the two sexes. To test whether these differences are due to sex differences in testosterone exposure, we injected female pups with testosterone propionate (TP) on the day of birth and analyzed the levels of AR and ER IR at PN1. TP-treated females have lower levels of AR and ERβ IR than control, while there are no differences in the levels of ERα IR. TP treatment did not affect the number of AR and ER expressing cells. The regulation of SNR AR and ERβ IR by testosterone may be important for the development of sex-specific functional systems involved in motor control.