Actions of sex steroids on behaviours beyond reproductive reflexes

Progesterone's Effects on Cognitive Performance of Male Mice Are Independent of Progestin Receptors but Relate to Increases in GABAA Activity in the Hippocampus and Cortex

Progestogens' (e.g., progesterone and its neuroactive metabolite, allopregnanolone), cognitive effects and mechanisms among males are not well-understood. We hypothesized if progestogen's effects on cognitive performance are through its metabolite allopregnanolone, and not actions via binding to traditional progestin receptors (PRs), then progesterone administration would enhance performance in tasks mediated by the hippocampus and cortex, coincident with increasing allopregnanolone concentrations, brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and/or muscimol binding of PR knock out (PRKO) and wild-type PR replete mice. Experiment 1: Progesterone (4 mg/kg, subcutaneously (SC; n = 12/grp), or oil vehicle control, was administered to gonadally-intact adult male mice PRKO mice and their wild-type counterparts and cognitive behaviors in object recognition, T-maze and water maze was examined. Progesterone, compared to vehicle, when administered post-training increased time investigating novel objects by the PRKO and wild-type mice in the object recognition task. In the T-maze task, progesterone administration to wild-type and PRKO mice had significantly greater number of spontaneous alternations compared to their vehicle-administered counterparts. In the water maze task, PRKO mice administered vehicle spent significantly fewer seconds in the quadrant associated with the escape platform on testing compared to all other groups. Experiment 2: Progesterone administered to wild-type and PRKO mice increased plasma progesterone and allopregnanolone levels (n = 5/group). PRKO mice had higher allopregnanolone levels in plasma and hippocampus, but not cortex, when administered progesterone and compared to wild-type mice. Experiment 3: Assessment of PR binding revealed progesterone administered wild-type mice had significantly greater levels of PRs in the hippocampus and cortex, compared to all other groups (n = 5/group). Wild-type mice administered progesterone, but not vehicle, had increased BDNF levels in the hippocampus, but not the cortex, compared to PRKOs. Wild-type as well as PRKO mice administered progesterone experienced significant increases in maximal GABAA agonist, muscimol, binding in hippocampus and cortex, compared to their vehicle-administered counterparts. Thus, adult male mice can be responsive to progesterone for cognitive performance, and such effects may be independent of PRs trophic actions of BDNF levels in the hippocampus and/or increases in GABAA activity in the hippocampus and cortex.

The possible effect of human menopausal gonadotropin on the audio-vestibular system

OBJECTIVE

Human menopausal gonadotropin (HMG) is one of the commonest drugs used for ovarian stimulation with no reports on the audio-vestibular system. This study aims to examine HMG on the hearing profile of patients planning intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).

METHODS

This prospective study was conducted from June 2016 to June 2017 in a tertiary referral hospital. The audio-vestibular system of a total of 30 patients was evaluated using pure tone audiometry, distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs in the form of a DP-gram) and Vestibular-evoked myogenic potential (VEMP) immediately before therapy and at the day 10 after therapy. Audio-vestibular adverse effects including hearing loss, tinnitus, vertigo, and otalgia were also considered.

RESULTS

Significant elevations in hearing thresholds were found on comparing thresholds at the day 10 at the onset of the study. The elevations were mostly at frequencies (1000, 2000 and 8000Hz) and did not affect speech perception. For DPOAE, significant differences were observed at all F2 frequencies on comparing both amplitudes and signal to noise ratios. Otologic complaints were significant for tinnitus and hearing loss.

CONCLUSION

Significant auditory and vestibular adverse effects may result from HMG therapy, indicating the importance of prompt monitoring of auditory functions in these patients.

Progesterone impairs social recognition in male rats

The influence of progesterone in the brain and on the behavior of females is fairly well understood. However, less is known about the effect of progesterone in the male system. In male rats, receptors for progesterone are present in virtually all vasopressin (AVP) immunoreactive cells in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST) and the medial amygdala (MeA). This colocalization functions to regulate AVP expression, as progesterone and/or progestin receptors (PR)s suppress AVP expression in these same extrahypothalamic regions in the brain. These data suggest that progesterone may influence AVP-dependent behavior. While AVP is implicated in numerous behavioral and physiological functions in rodents, AVP appears essential for social recognition of conspecifics. Therefore, we examined the effects of progesterone on social recognition. We report that progesterone plays an important role in modulating social recognition in the male brain, as progesterone treatment leads to a significant impairment of social recognition in male rats. Moreover, progesterone appears to act on PRs to impair social recognition, as progesterone impairment of social recognition is blocked by a PR antagonist, RU-486. Social recognition is also impaired by a specific progestin agonist, R5020. Interestingly, we show that progesterone does not interfere with either general memory or olfactory processes, suggesting that progesterone seems critically important to social recognition memory. These data provide strong evidence that physiological levels of progesterone can have an important impact on social behavior in male rats.

Human somatosensory cortical activation strengths: comparison between males and females and age-related changes

The amplitudes of many scalp-recorded evoked potential (EP) deflections are higher in females than in males, and in elderly than in young subjects. Since EPs critically depend on the electric conductivity of the cranium, it is not known whether these differences reflect age- and gender-dependent changes in the intensity of neuronal activation, or changes in the volume conductor. Evoked magnetic fields are not significantly affected by the conductivities of the cranial tissues and therefore reflect more directly the neuronal activation than EPs. We report here on the effects of age and gender on somatosensory evoked fields (SEFs) from the primary somatosensory cortex (SI) in 43 healthy subjects (21 males) aged from 20 to 73 years (males 51+/-18 years, females 51+/-14 years). The intensity of neuronal activation was estimated with equivalent current dipoles (ECDs) found at the peaks of the N20m, P35m and P60m deflections from the left SI after right median nerve stimulation. The peak latencies of N20m and P35m (but not of P60m) were shorter in females than in males. The N20m latency was positively correlated with age in males, but otherwise the latencies did not correlate with age. The ECD amplitudes did not differ between males and females for any of the deflections. The N20m ECD strength showed a significant positive correlation (r=0.39, p<0.01) with age while P35m and P60m ECD strengths did not. The results thus did not disclose gender differences in the activation strengths of the somatosensory cortex, implying that such differences in evoked potentials may possibly be due to gender differences in the volume conductor. On the other hand, the results suggest a slight age-related increase in cortical excitability.