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The specific role of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) on brain sexual differentiation remains unclear. To investigate whether gonadotropin and, in turn, testosterone (T) secretion is regulated by GnRH during the critical period for brain differentiation in sheep fetuses, we attempted to selectively suppress pituitary-testicular activation during midgestation with the long-acting GnRH antagonist degarelix. Fetuses received subcutaneous injections of the antagonist or vehicle on day 62 of gestation. After 2 to 3 weeks we examined consequences of the intervention on baseline and GnRH-stimulated plasma luteinizing hormone (LH) and T levels. In addition, we measured the effect of degarelix-treatment on messenger RNA (mRNA) expression for the pituitary gonadotropins and key gonadal steroidogenic enzymes. Baseline and GnRH-stimulated plasma LH levels were significantly suppressed in degarelix-treated male and female fetuses compared to control values. Similarly, T concentrations were suppressed in degarelix-treated males. The percentage of LHβ-immunoreactive cells colocalizing c-fos was significantly reduced by degarelix treatment indicating that pituitary sensitivity was inhibited. Degarelix treatment also led to the significant suppression of mRNA expression coding for the pituitary gonadotropin subunits and for the gonadal enzymes involved in androgen synthesis. These findings demonstrate that pharmacologic inhibition of GnRH early in gestation results in suppression of LH secretion and deficits in the plasma T levels of male lamb fetuses. We conclude that GnRH signaling plays a pivotal role for regulating T exposure during the critical period of sheep gestation when the brain is masculinized. Thus, disturbance to gonadotropin secretion during this phase of gestation could have long-term consequence on adult sexual behaviors and fertility.

Evidence suggests that the hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal (HPG) axis is active during the critical period for sexual differentiation of the ovine sexually dimorphic nucleus, which occurs between gestational day (GD) 60 and 90. Two possible neuropeptides that could activate the fetal HPG axis are kisspeptin and neurokinin B (NKB). We used GD85 fetal lambs to determine whether intravenous administration of kisspeptin-10 (KP-10) or senktide (NKB agonist) could elicit luteinizing hormone (LH) release. Immunohistochemistry and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) were employed to localize these peptides in brains of GD60 and GD85 lamb fetuses. In anesthetized fetuses, KP-10 elicited robust release of LH that was accompanied by a delayed rise in serum testosterone in males. Pretreatment with the GnRH receptor antagonist (acyline) abolished the LH response to KP-10, confirming a hypothalamic site of action. In unanesthetized fetuses, senktide, as well as KP-10, elicited LH release. The senktide response of females was greater than that of males, indicating a difference in NKB sensitivity between sexes. Gonadotropin-releasing hormone also induced a greater LH discharge in females than in males, indicating that testosterone negative feedback is mediated through pituitary gonadotrophs. Kisspeptin and NKB immunoreactive cells in the arcuate nucleus were more abundant in females than in males. Greater than 85% of arcuate kisspeptin cells costained for NKB. FISH revealed that the majority of these were kisspeptin/NKB/dynorphin (KNDy) neurons. These results support the hypothesis that kisspeptin–GnRH signaling regulates the reproductive axis of the ovine fetus during the prenatal critical period acting to maintain a stable androgen milieu necessary for brain masculinization.

Prenatal exposure to excess androgen may result in impaired adult fertility in a variety of mammalian species. However, little is known about what feedback mechanisms regulate gonadotropin secretion during early gestation and how they respond to excess T exposure. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of exogenous exposure to T on key genes that regulate gonadotropin and GnRH secretion in fetal male lambs as compared with female cohorts. We found that biweekly maternal testosterone propionate (100 mg) treatment administered from day 30 to day 58 of gestation acutely decreased (P < .05) serum LH concentrations and reduced the expression of gonadotropin subunit mRNA in both sexes and the levels of GnRH receptor mRNA in males. These results are consistent with enhanced negative feedback at the level of the pituitary and were accompanied by reduced mRNA levels for testicular steroidogenic enzymes, suggesting that Leydig cell function was also suppressed. The expression of kisspeptin 1 mRNA, a key regulator of GnRH neurons, was significantly greater (P < .01) in control females than in males and reduced (P < .001) in females by T exposure, indicating that hypothalamic regulation of gonadotropin secretion was also affected by androgen exposure. Although endocrine homeostasis was reestablished 2 weeks after maternal testosterone propionate treatment ceased, additional differences in the gene expression of GnRH, estrogen receptor-β, and kisspeptin receptor (G protein coupled receptor 54) emerged between the treatment cohorts. These changes suggest the normal trajectory of hypothalamic-pituitary axis development was disrupted, which may, in turn, contribute to negative effects on fertility later in life.

The ovine sexually dimorphic nucleus (oSDN) is 2 times larger in rams than in ewes. Sexual differentiation of the oSDN is produced by testosterone exposure during the critical period occurring between gestational day (GD)60 and GD90 (term, 147 d). We tested the hypothesis that testosterone acts through the androgen receptor to control development of the male-typical oSDN. In experiment 1, pregnant ewes received injections of vehicle, androgen receptor antagonist flutamide, or nonaromatizable androgen dihydrotestosterone (DHT) propionate during the critical period. Fetuses were delivered at GD135. Both antagonist and agonist treatments significantly reduced mean oSDN volume in males but had no effects in females. Experiment 2, we analyzed the effect of treatments on the fetal hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis to determine whether compensatory changes in hormone secretion occurred that could explain the effect of DHT. Pregnant ewes were injected with vehicle, flutamide, or DHT propionate from GD60 to GD84, and fetuses were delivered on GD85. Flutamide significantly increased LH and testosterone in males, whereas DHT significantly decreased both hormones. In females, LH was unaffected by flutamide but significantly reduced by DHT exposure. DHT significantly decreased pituitary gonadotropin and hypothalamic kisspeptin mRNA expression in males and females. These results suggest that androgen receptor mediates the effect of testosterone on oSDN masculinization, because this process was blocked by the androgen receptor antagonist flutamide in eugonadal males. In contrast, the reduction of oSDN volume observed after DHT exposure appears to be mediated by a negative feedback mechanism exerted on the hypothalamus to reduce LH and testosterone secretion. The reduced androgen exposure most likely accounted for the decreased oSDN volume. We conclude that, during the critical period, the male reproductive axis in long gestation species, such as sheep, is sufficiently developed to react to perturbations in serum androgens and mitigate disruptions in brain masculinization.

Sheep exposed to testosterone during a critical period from gestational day (GD) 30 to GD 90 develop masculine genitals and an enlarged male-typical ovine sexually dimorphic nucleus of the preoptic area (oSDN). The present study tested the hypothesis that separate critical periods exist for masculinization of these two anatomical end points. Pregnant ewes were treated with testosterone propionate (TP) either from GD 30 to GD 60 (early TP) or GD 60 to GD 90 (late TP). Control (C) pregnant ewes were treated with corn oil. Fetuses were delivered at GD 135 and the volume of the oSDN was measured. Early TP females possessed a penis and a scrotum devoid of testes, whereas late TP and C females had normal female genitals. Neither period of TP exposure grossly affected the genitals of male fetuses. Despite masculinized genitals, the mean volume of the oSDN in early TP females (0.32 ± 0.06 mm3) was not different from C females (0.24 ± 0.02 mm3) but was significantly enlarged in late TP females (0.49 ± 0.04 mm3; P < 0.05 vs. C) when the genitals appeared normal. In contrast, the volume of the oSDN in late TP males (0.51 ± 0.02 mm3) was not different from C males (0.51 ± 0.04 mm3) but was significantly smaller in the early TP males (0.35 ± 0.04 mm3; P < 0.05 vs. C). These results demonstrate that the prenatal critical period for androgen-dependent differentiation of the oSDN occurs later than, and can be separated temporally from, the period for development of masculine genitals.

GnRH is synthesized as part of a larger 92-amino acid prohormone (pro-GnRH). In the present study, we examined the effect of gonadectomy and hormone replacement on the processing of pro-GnRH to GnRH in adult male rats. Immunoreactive levels of pro-GnRH and GnRH in acid extracts of preoptic area (POA) and basal hypothalamus (BH) from intact, castrate, and testosterone (T)-treated castrate males were quantified by RIA. In addition, we used immunocytochemistry to detect pro-GnRH-and GnRH-positive neurons and determine the effects of hormone treatment. Three weeks after castration, the pro-GnRH content of the POA was 2-fold greater than the amount found in intact males. Treatment with T for 1 week lowered the prohormone content to intact levels. Although the pro-GnRH content in the BH was about 50% lower than that in the POA, the BH responded to castration and steroid replacement in a manner identical to the POA. The GnRH content of the BH, but not that of the POA, was significantly reduced after castration and increased by T treatment. On the other hand, the total number of pro-GnRH and GnRH cell bodies visualized by immunocytochemistry was not significantly altered by either treatment. These results show that changes in pro-GnRH content vary in inverse relation to changes in GnRH content and suggest that gonadectomy inhibits the enzymatic processing of precursor, while T treatment promotes it.

We examined nuclear estrogen receptors (ER) and progestin receptors (PR) in the rhesus monkey prostate. Tissues were obtained from six intact males, five untreated castrates, six castrates treated with testosterone (T) for 6 weeks, and four castrates treated with estradiol (E2) for 6 weeks. Samples of the caudal lobe were either assayed biochemically for ER or stained immunocytochemically (ICC) with monoclonal antibodies against the ER or PR. Prostates from untreated castrates had significantly more ER than tissues from intact or T-treated castrates. In E2-treated castrates, ER number increased compared to that in intact and T-treated castrates. With ICC, ER was found only in the nuclei of the fibroblasts and smooth muscle cells of the stroma, not the glandular, ductal, or urethral epithelial cells. Intact and T-treated castrates had a very small number of positive cells, while untreated and E2-treated castrates had a significantly increased number of positive ER cells in the fibromuscular stroma. With ICC, PR was absent in intact or T-treated animals and barely evident in untreated castrates, but was significantly increased in the fibromuscular stroma of E2-treated castrates. The histological preparations indicated there was no stromal hypertrophy in the E2-treated castrates, but the E2 treatment did cause dilation of the glandular acini. Aromatase activity was measured in prostatic microsomes with a radiometric assay. Levels were low (3-30 fmol/h.mg protein) compared to those in brain and placenta, and no differences in activity were seen between castrates and T-treated castrates. Our data demonstrate that androgens can suppress the level of nuclear ER in the rhesus prostate, and that E2 treatment of castrates can induce PR in the same cells as those that contain ER. Thus, under appropriate conditions, estrogens could affect the rhesus prostate through a receptor-mediated pathway.

To investigate the role of androgen receptors in the regulation of brain aromatase activity (AA) in adult rats, the levels of AA in discrete brain areas of androgen-insensitive testicular feminized (Tfm) rats were compared with those in their normal male littermates (NL). AA was measured in homogenates of brain tissue by using a radiometric assay that quantifies the production of 3H2O from [1 beta-3H]androstenedione as an index of estrogen formation. Initially, we assessed the capability of block-dissected tissues to aromatize androgens. We found that the AA in the amygdala and hypothalamus-preoptic area of Tfm rats was significantly lower (P less than 0.001) than the AA in NL despite the fact that circulating androgen concentrations in the Tfm were significantly higher. Kinetics studies demonstrated that the apparent Michaelis constant was equivalent for both groups (0.02-0.03 microM). Administration of testosterone propionate to castrated males produced 3 to 4-fold elevations of AA in NL, but did not affect brain AA in Tfm rats. To pinpoint specific sites where AA is affected in Tfm rats, we measured AA in 10 hypothalamic and limbic nuclei that were dissected from 300-micron frozen brain sections. Compared to NL, Tfm rats exhibited significantly lower levels of AA in all micro-dissected brain regions studied, except for the medial and cortical amygdala. These data provide genetic evidence for both androgen-dependent and independent regulation of AA in the rat brain.

Estrogen and androgen synergize in the regulation of various neuroendocrine functions. To determine a potential cellular basis of this synergism, we measured androgen receptor (AR) in the cytosol of 16 hypothalamic and limbic nuclei and subregions in castrated male rats and castrated rats treated with estradiol. Androgen receptor was measured by a previously validated in vitro binding assay using the synthetic androgen methyltrienolone [( 3H]R1881). Male Sprague-Dawley rats (250-350 g) were castrated 2 weeks before the implantation of a 2.5-cm Silastic capsule filled with crystalline 17 beta-estradiol. Control rats were sham implanted. Estrogen treatment lasted for 1 week, after which time the animals were killed, their brains were frozen and sectioned, and individual nuclei and subregions were removed by a tissue punch technique. Tissue from six rats were combined for each determination. The highest levels of AR were found in the ventromedial nucleus (16.5 +/- 1.4 fmol/mg protein), medial preoptic area (12.1 +/- 1.4 fmol/mg protein), bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (11.6 +/- 1.4 fmol/mg protein), lateral septum (11.4 +/- 1.4 fmol/mg protein), arcuate nucleus-median eminence (10.9 +/- 2.1 fmol/mg protein), and medial amygdala (10.3 +/- 0.9 fmol/mg protein). Estrogen treatment resulted in significant increases in AR in medial preoptic area (14.8 +/- 0.6 fmol/mg protein; P less than 0.05) and medial amygdala (14.6 +/- 1.2 fmol/mg protein; P less than 0.02). Subsequent studies using block-dissected hypothalamus-preoptic area, anterior pituitary, and prostate revealed significant estrogen-mediated elevations in AR in anterior pituitary cytosol [42.2 +/- 3.0 vs. 26.4 +/- 1.6 fmol/mg protein (control); P less than 0.01], but not in hypothalamus-preoptic area or prostate cytosols. Estrogen treatment had no effect on AR affinity. The binding of [3H]R1881 was specific for AR and was not affected by the addition of radioinert progesterone to the incubation tube. Estimates of AR concentration were similar regardless of whether [3H]R1881 or [3H]dihydrotestosterone was used as the ligand. In this study, we describe the distribution of AR throughout the hypothalamus and limbic areas using biochemical techniques. In addition, we have identified some cellular events that may mediate the synergistic actions of estrogen and androgen on the neuroendocrine system.

We studied the distribution and regulation of aromatase activity in the adult rat brain with a sensitive in vitro assay that measures the amount of 3H2O formed during the conversion of [1 beta-3H]androstenedione to estrone. The rate of aromatase activity in the hypothalamus-preoptic area (HPOA) was linear with time up to 1 h, and with tissue concentrations up to 5 mgeq/200 microliters incubation mixture. The enzyme demonstrated a pH optimum of 7.4 and an apparent Michaelis-Menten constant (Km) of 0.04 microns. We found the greatest amount of aromatase activity in amygdala and HPOA from intact male rats. The hippocampus, midbrain tegmentum, cerebral cortex, cerebellum, and anterior pituitary all contained negligible enzymatic activity. Castration produced a significant decrease in aromatase activity in the HPOA (P less than 0.001), but not in the amygdala or cerebral cortex (P greater than 0.05). The HPOAs of male rats contained significantly greater aromatase activity than the HPOAs of female rats. In females, this enzyme activity did not change during the estrous cycle or after ovariectomy. Administration of testosterone to gonadectomized male and female rats significantly enhanced HPOA aromatase activities (P less than 0.05) to levels approximating those found in HPOA from intact males. Therefore, our results suggest that testosterone, or one of its metabolites, is a major steroidal regulator of HPOA aromatase activity in rats.