Adult Testosterone Levels Research Articles

The Biology of the Northern Brown Bandicoot, Isoodon-Macrourus (Marsupialia, Peramelidae) at Mitchell Plateau, Western-Australia

Breeding, population dynamics and seasonal changes in physical and physiological parameters were examined in Isoodon macrourus at the Mitchell Plateau between September 1981 and November 1982. Females gave birth to litters of 2.5 � 1.0 (16) young between September and April. They produced up to three litters in a breeding season with an average interval between successive litters of 89.5 (51-108) days. Adult testosterone levels and scrota1 size began to increase in July and peaked in September 1982. The overall ratio of adult males to adult females was 1:0.54; it was 1:0.80 for pouch young. Females were more frequently trapped on sequential trips than were males. Density on the grids increased towards the end of the dry season (July and September 1982)-mostly as a result of increased numbers of females. Adult males and females moving onto the grids during the dry season tended to select different habitats. Adult males moved significantly more in the wet season (September 1981, January and April) than they did in the dry season (July and September 1982); they also moved significantly more than adult females in the wet season. Seasonal variations were recorded for most physical and physiological parameters. During the wet period from September 1981 to January 1982, body weight, haemoglobin, haematocrit and total plasma albumin declined, while total white blood cells and proportion of lymphocytes to granular leucocytes rose. This indicated that this period was one of change in condition for this species. Compared to adult females, adult males were larger and heavier, had higher values of haematocrit and lymphocytes, and lower values of granular leucocytes, free steroids, CBGBd and albumin bound corticosteroid. There was considerable between-year variability in condition of individuals and both sexes differed significantly in September 1981 and 1982 in their weight, haematocrit, total white blood cells, granular leucocytes, MCBC and testosterone. Individuals at disparate localities at the Mitchell Plateau showed similar seasonal physiological and physical responses, except for one grid where they were heavier.

Adult testosterone levels influence the morphology of a sexually dimorphic area in the Mongolian gerbil brain.

This research shows that the medial preoptic area-anterior hypothalamus (MPOA-AH) of the gerbil contains a sexually dimorphic area (SDA) whose morphology is influenced by adult gonadal steroids. The characteristics of the SDA were studied initially in gonadally intact males and females and later in males and females that had been gonadectomized or gonadectomized and given testosterone. Coronal sections through the MPOA-AH were stained with thionin to visualize the SDA. In male gerbils, the SDA is a darkly staining, hook-shaped structure on either side of the third ventricle, above the suprachiasmatic nuclei and below the anterior commissure. Within the male SDA lies a small, dense cluster of cells, the SDA pars compacta (SDApc). In female gerbils, the SDA is more ovoid and diffuse and the SDApc is absent. Camera lucida tracings and planimeter measurements of the SDA showed that the total volume of the SDA is similar in the two sexes, but the proportion of the SDA that stains darkly and/or stands out clearly from the surround (dark volume) is larger in males. Gonadectomy decreases both total and dark volume of the SDA in both sexes and decreases the volume of the SDApc in males. Testosterone treatment prevents these changes. This is the first report of changes in the gross morphology of the mammalian brain after steroid hormone manipulations in adulthood. The changes in the SDA may be related to testosterone activation of scent marking behavior.