Gonadal Hormone Influences on Sex Differences in Binge Eating Across Development

The importance of gonadal hormones in the regulation of vascular function has been documented. An alternate and essential contribution of the sex chromosomes to sex differences in vascular function is poorly understood. We reported previously sex differences in microvessel permeability ( Ps) responses to adenosine that were mediated by the cAMP signaling pathway (Wang J, PhD thesis, 2005; Wang J and Huxley V, Proceedings of the VIII World Congress of Microcirculation, 2007 ; Wang J and Huxley VH, Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 291: H3094–H3105, 2006). The two cyclic nucleotides, cAMP and cGMP, central to the regulation of vascular barrier integrity, are hydrolyzed by phosphodiesterases (PDE). We hypothesized that microvascular endothelial cells (EC) would retain intrinsic and inheritable sexually dimorphic genes with respect to the PDEs modulating EC barrier function. Primary cultured microvascular EC from skeletal muscles isolated from male and female rats, respectively, were used. SRY (a sex-determining region Y gene) mRNA expression was observed exclusively in male, not female, cells. The predominant isoform among PDE1–5, present in both XY and XX EC, was PDE4. Expression mRNA levels of PDE1A (male > female) and PDE3B (male < female) were sex dependent; PDE2A, PDE4D, and PDE5A were sex independent. Barrier function, Ps, was determined from measures of albumin flux across confluent primary cultured microvessel XY and XX EC monolayers. Consistent with intact in situ microvessels, basal monolayer Ps did not differ between XY (1.7 ± 0.2 × 10−6 cm/s; n = 8) and XX (1.8 ± 0.1 × 10−6 cm/s; n = 10) EC. Cilostazol, a PDE3 inhibitor, reduced (11%, P < 0.05) Ps in XX, not XY, cells. These findings demonstrate the presence and maintenance of intrinsic sex-related differences in gene expression and cellular phenotype by microvascular EC in a gonadal-hormone-free environment. Furthermore, intrinsic cell-sex likely contributes significantly to sexual dimorphism in cardiovascular function.

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Prepubertal gonadectomy reveals sex differences in approach-avoidance behavior in adult mice

10.1101/638916 ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Kristen Delevich ◽

Christopher Hall ◽

Josiah R. Boivin ◽

David Piekarski ◽

Yuting Zhang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sex Differences ◽

Adult Male ◽

Gonadal Hormones ◽

Gonadal Hormone ◽

Opposite Pattern ◽

Male And Female ◽

Female Mice ◽

Puberty Onset ◽

Approach Avoidance ◽

Foraging Task

AbstractAdolescence is a developmental period that is associated with physical, cognitive, and affective maturation and a time when sex biases in multiple psychiatric diseases emerge. While puberty onset marks the initiation of adolescence, it is unclear whether the pubertal rise in gonadal hormones generates sex differences in approach-avoidance behaviors that may impact psychiatric vulnerability. To examine the influence of peripubertal gonadal hormone exposure on adult behavior, we removed the gonads or performed sham surgery in male and female mice just prior to puberty onset and assessed performance in an odor-guided foraging task and anxiety-related behaviors in adulthood. We observed no significant sex differences in foraging or anxiety-related behaviors between intact adult male and female mice but found significant differences between adult male and female mice that had been gonadectomized (GDX) prior to puberty. GDX males failed to acquire the odor-guided foraging task, showed reduced locomotion, and exhibited increased anxiety-like behavior, while GDX females showed the opposite pattern of behavior. These data suggest that similar approach-avoidance phenotypes are achieved in male and female mice via different mechanisms mediated by the sex-specific hormonal milieus during pubertal maturation.

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