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Rodríguez-Manzo G, Canseco-Alba A. The endogenous cannabinoid system modulates male sexual behavior expression. Front Behav Neurosci 2023; 17:1198077. [PMID: 37324524 PMCID: PMC10264596 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2023.1198077] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2023] [Accepted: 05/03/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023] Open
Abstract
The endocannabinoid system (ECS) plays a key neuromodulatory role in the brain. Main features of endocannabinoids (eCBs) are that they are produced on demand, in response to enhanced neuronal activity, act as retrograde messengers, and participate in the induction of brain plasticity processes. Sexual activity is a motivated behavior and therefore, the mesolimbic dopaminergic system (MSL) plays a central role in the control of its appetitive component (drive to engage in copulation). In turn, copulation activates mesolimbic dopamine neurons and repeated copulation produces the continuous activation of the MSL system. Sustained sexual activity leads to the achievement of sexual satiety, which main outcome is the transient transformation of sexually active male rats into sexually inhibited animals. Thus, 24 h after copulation to satiety, the sexually satiated males exhibit a decreased sexual motivation and do not respond to the presence of a sexually receptive female with sexual activity. Interestingly, blockade of cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1R) during the copulation to satiety process, interferes with both the appearance of the long-lasting sexual inhibition and the decrease in sexual motivation in the sexually satiated males. This effect is reproduced when blocking CB1R at the ventral tegmental area evidencing the involvement of MSL eCBs in the induction of this sexual inhibitory state. Here we review the available evidence regarding the effects of cannabinoids, including exogenously administered eCBs, on male rodent sexual behavior of both sexually competent animals and rat sub populations spontaneously showing copulatory deficits, considered useful to model some human male sexual dysfunctions. We also include the effects of cannabis preparations on human male sexual activity. Finally, we review the role played by the ECS in the control of male sexual behavior expression with the aid of the sexual satiety phenomenon. Sexual satiety appears as a suitable model for the study of the relationship between eCB signaling, MSL synaptic plasticity and the modulation of male sexual motivation under physiological conditions that might be useful for the understanding of MSL functioning, eCB-mediated plasticity and their relationship with motivational processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriela Rodríguez-Manzo
- Departamento de Farmacobiología, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados (Cinvestav-Sede Sur), Ciudad de México, Mexico
| | - Ana Canseco-Alba
- Laboratorio de Fisiología de la Formación Reticular, Instituto Nacional de Neurología y Neurocirugía Manuel Velasco Suárez, Ciudad de México, Mexico
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Behavioral Despair Is Blocked by the Flavonoid Chrysin (5,7-Dihydroxyflavone) in a Rat Model of Surgical Menopause. Molecules 2023; 28:molecules28020587. [PMID: 36677645 PMCID: PMC9862461 DOI: 10.3390/molecules28020587] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2022] [Revised: 01/01/2023] [Accepted: 01/02/2023] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Women have a high susceptibility to the negative effects of stress. Hormonal changes experienced throughout their reproductive life partially contribute to a higher incidence of anxiety and depression symptoms, particularly, during natural or surgical menopause. In preclinical research, the flavonoid chrysin (5,7-dihydroxyflavone) exerts anxiolytic- and anti-despair-like effects; however, it is unknown whether chrysin exerts a protective effect against the behavioral changes produced by acute stress on locomotor activity and behavioral despair in rats at 12-weeks post-ovariectomy. Ovariectomized female Wistar rats were assigned to eight groups: vehicle group (10% DMSO), three groups with chrysin and three groups with the same dose of allopregnanolone (0.5, 1, and 2 mg/kg), and one group with diazepam (2 mg/kg). The treatments were administered for seven consecutive days and the effects were evaluated in the locomotor activity and swimming tests. Chrysin (2 mg/kg) increased the latency to first immobility and decreased the total immobility time in the swimming test as the reference drugs allopregnanolone and diazepam (2 mg/kg); while locomotor activity prevented the behavioral changes produced by swimming. In conclusion, chrysin exerts a protective effect against the behavioral changes induced by acute stress, similarly to the neurosteroid allopregnanolone and the benzodiazepine diazepam in rats subjected to a surgical menopause model.
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Gao F, Huang J, Guan YF, Huang GB, Li WJ, He XY, Qiu ZC, Zhang YL, Zhao ST, Li J, Xuan A, Sun XD. Social Company by a Receptive Mating Partner Facilitates Fear Extinction. Front Neurosci 2020; 14:62. [PMID: 32116509 PMCID: PMC7018940 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2020.00062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2019] [Accepted: 01/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Fear extinction remains an unresolved challenge for behavioral exposure therapy in patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Previous reports have suggested that social support from either familiar or unfamiliar same-sex partners is beneficial to attenuating fear responses during fear extinction and renewal. Despite that, few studies have examined the effects of social support in advance on fear extinction and/or retrieval. It is also not clear whether social company by a receptive mating partner in advance facilitates fear extinction. In the present study, we address these questions by introducing a co-housing method, where fear-conditioned male mice are co-housed with or without a receptive mating partner prior to fear extinction. We found that while co-housing with an ovariectomized female mouse showed little effect on fear extinction or retrieval, social company by a receptive mating partner in advance dramatically facilitates fear extinction. In addition, the number of cFos-positive neurons in the basolateral amygdala (BLA) were also found to be reduced in male mice accompanied with receptive mating partner in response to fear extinction and retrieval, indicating diminished neuronal activation. Electrophysiological studies further showed that the excitability of excitatory neurons in BLA was decreased, which is probably due to the attenuated basal level of excitatory synaptic transmission. Together, our observations demonstrate an effect of social company by a receptive mating partner can facilitate fear extinction and afford a possible cellular mechanism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Feng Gao
- School of Basic Medical Sciences, Institute of Neuroscience and the Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Key Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Channelopathies of Guangdong Province and the Ministry of Education of China, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jie Huang
- School of Basic Medical Sciences, Institute of Neuroscience and the Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Key Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Channelopathies of Guangdong Province and the Ministry of Education of China, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yan-Fei Guan
- School of Basic Medical Sciences, Institute of Neuroscience and the Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Key Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Channelopathies of Guangdong Province and the Ministry of Education of China, Guangzhou, China
| | - Guo-Bin Huang
- School of Basic Medical Sciences, Institute of Neuroscience and the Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Key Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Channelopathies of Guangdong Province and the Ministry of Education of China, Guangzhou, China
| | - Wen-Jing Li
- KingMed School of Laboratory Medicine, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xi-Yi He
- KingMed School of Laboratory Medicine, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Zi-Cong Qiu
- The First School of Clinical Medicine, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yun-Long Zhang
- School of Basic Medical Sciences, Institute of Neuroscience and the Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Key Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Channelopathies of Guangdong Province and the Ministry of Education of China, Guangzhou, China
| | - Shen-Ting Zhao
- School of Basic Medical Sciences, Institute of Neuroscience and the Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Key Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Channelopathies of Guangdong Province and the Ministry of Education of China, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jianhua Li
- Key Laboratory of Protein Modification and Degradation, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Affiliated Cancer Hospital & Institute of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Aiguo Xuan
- School of Basic Medical Sciences, Institute of Neuroscience and the Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Key Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Channelopathies of Guangdong Province and the Ministry of Education of China, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xiang-Dong Sun
- School of Basic Medical Sciences, Institute of Neuroscience and the Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Key Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Channelopathies of Guangdong Province and the Ministry of Education of China, Guangzhou, China.,Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Psychiatric Disorders, Guangzhou, China
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Rodríguez-Manzo G, González-Morales E. Endocannabinoids mediate long-lasting behavioural and physiological changes in male rats induced by the repeated activation of the mesolimbic system by copulation to satiety. Behav Brain Res 2020; 383:112510. [PMID: 31987931 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2020.112510] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2019] [Revised: 01/20/2020] [Accepted: 01/24/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Sexually satiated male rats exhibit long-lasting physiological changes, suggestive of brain plasticity, the most conspicuous of which are a sexual behaviour inhibition and a generalised drug hypersensitivity. Copulation activates the mesolimbic circuit increasing dopamine (DA) release in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) and, enhanced midbrain DA neuron activity promotes endocannabinoid (eCB) release in the ventral tegmental area (VTA). The objective of this work was to explore the possible participation of DA and/or eCB transmission in the induction of these two long-lasting phenomena. To this aim we analysed the effect of blocking DA or CB1 receptors during the process of copulation to exhaustion, on the expression 24 h later, of the sexual inhibitory state and the hypersensitivity to two different drugs: 8-OH-DPAT, a 5-HT1A receptor agonist, and yohimbine, an α2-adrenoceptor antagonist. Blockade of DA receptors failed to prevent these phenomena, while blockade of CB1 receptors interfered with the appearance of the sexual inhibition and the hypersensitivity to both drugs in the sexually satiated animals. Specific blockade of CB1 receptors in the VTA during copulation to satiety mimicked these results, suggesting that both eCB-mediated effects were exerted in this brain region. It is concluded that eCBs play a role in the induction of behavioural and physiological changes, triggered by copulation to satiety, by acting at the VTA, while increased NAcc DA levels appear not to contribute to the changes induced by intense copulation. Results pose sexual satiety as a useful model for the study of brain plasticity phenomena induced by natural rewards.
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Martínez-Mota L, Ulloa RE, Herrera-Pérez J, Chavira R, Fernández-Guasti A. Sex and age differences in the impact of the forced swimming test on the levels of steroid hormones. Physiol Behav 2011; 104:900-5. [PMID: 21658399 DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2011.05.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2011] [Revised: 05/21/2011] [Accepted: 05/24/2011] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Compared with the adult disorder, depression in children exhibits differences in its neurobiology, particularly in the HPA axis regulation. The bases of such differences can be evaluated in animal models of depression. The objective of the present study was to determine age and sex differences of Wistar rats in the forced swimming test (FST). The influence of sex and age on corticosterone, estrogens and testosterone serum levels was also determined. Prepubertal rats showed immobility, swimming and climbing behaviors during the pre-test and test sessions. In addition, in the prepubertal animals, no sex differences were found during the pre-test and test sessions. Age comparisons indicated no differences in the female groups, however adult males exhibited more immobility and less swimming than young males, in both FST sessions. The young and female rats showed less immobility behavior and increased levels of estrogens after the FST. The present results indicate that the FST is an animal model suitable to evaluate depressive-like behaviors in prepubertal subjects and to explore behavioral changes related to neurodevelopment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucía Martínez-Mota
- Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatría Ramón de la Fuente Muñiz, Calz. Mexico Xochimilco 101, San Lorenzo Huipulco, Tlalpan, Mexico City, 14370, Mexico.
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Recovery from sexual exhaustion-induced copulatory inhibition and drug hypersensitivity follow a same time course: Two expressions of a same process? Behav Brain Res 2011; 217:253-60. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2010.09.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2010] [Revised: 09/08/2010] [Accepted: 09/14/2010] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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Wen F, Xu L. Effects of isolation after sexual experience on anxiety-like, depressive-like behaviors and affective states in male rats. CHINESE SCIENCE BULLETIN 2010. [DOI: 10.1007/s11434-010-4223-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
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Waldherr M, Nyuyki K, Maloumby R, Bosch OJ, Neumann ID. Attenuation of the neuronal stress responsiveness and corticotrophin releasing hormone synthesis after sexual activity in male rats. Horm Behav 2010; 57:222-9. [PMID: 19948175 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2009.11.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2009] [Revised: 11/18/2009] [Accepted: 11/20/2009] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Beneficial effects of sexual activity and mating on the responsiveness to environmental stress can be observed in humans and other mammalian species alike, but the underlying neurobiological mechanisms are largely unknown. Sexual activity and mating with a receptive female has recently been shown to reduce the subsequent emotional stress response via activation of the brain oxytocin system. Therefore, we investigated the neuronal and hormonal responses to an acute stressor (forced swimming) after mating in male rats. Attenuation of the stress-induced increase of c-fos and CRH mRNA expression within the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus 4 h after mating revealed that sexual activity reduced neuronal reactivity in this region. However, this effect was independent of oxytocin as oxytocin receptor blockade, by central administration of an oxytocin receptor antagonist, after mating did not prevent the reduced expression of c-fos mRNA in response to stressor exposure. Mating itself stimulated corticotrophin (ACTH) and corticosterone secretion, which was absent in males after contact with an unreceptive female (non-mated group). However, ACTH and corticosterone responses to forced swimming applied either 45 min or 4 h after female contact were similar between mated and non-mated males. These findings provide evidence for a stress-protective effect of sexual activity and mating in male rats and for dissociation between neuronal and neuroendocrine stress responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Waldherr
- Department of Molecular and Behavioral Neuroendocrinology, Institute of Zoology, University of Regensburg, 93053 Regensburg, Germany.
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Estrada-Reyes R, Ortiz-López P, Gutiérrez-Ortíz J, Martínez-Mota L. Turnera diffusa Wild (Turneraceae) recovers sexual behavior in sexually exhausted males. JOURNAL OF ETHNOPHARMACOLOGY 2009; 123:423-429. [PMID: 19501274 DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2009.03.032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2008] [Revised: 03/05/2009] [Accepted: 03/21/2009] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE In folk medicine, Turnera diffusa Wild (Turnera diffusa, Turneraceae) is considered as an aphrodisiac, but its ability to restore copulation in sexually inhibited subjects has not been reported. AIM OF THE STUDY To determine whether Turnera diffusa recovers sexual behavior in sexually exhausted (SExh) male rats and to identify the main components in an aqueous extract. MATERIALS AND METHODS SExh males were treated with Turnera diffusa, 20-80 mg/kg, yohimbine, 2 mg/kg, or vehicle. RESULTS Yohimbine and Turnera diffusa (80 mg/kg) significantly increased the percentage of males achieving one ejaculatory series and resuming a second one. In addition, Turnera diffusa significantly reduced the post-ejaculatory interval. These effects were not associated to an increase in locomotor activity or anxiety-like behaviors. The HPLC-ESI-MS analysis showed the presence of caffeine, arbutine, and flavonoids as the main compounds in the active extract. CONCLUSION The results support the use of Turnera diffusa as an aphrodisiac in traditional medicine and suggest possible therapeutic properties of Turnera diffusa on sexual dysfunction. The flavonoids present in active extract may participate in its pro-sexual effect, which is analogous to those produced by yohimbine, suggesting a shared mechanism of action.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Estrada-Reyes
- Laboratorio de Fitofarmacología, Dirección de Investigaciones en Neurociencias, Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatría Ramón de la Fuente Muñiz, Calzada México-Xochimilco 101, Col. San Lorenzo Huipulco, Delegación Tlalpan, Mexico City 14370, Mexico
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Spritzer MD, Weinberg A, Viau V, Galea LAM. Prior sexual experience increases hippocampal cell proliferation and decreases risk assessment behavior in response to acute predator odor stress in the male rat. Behav Brain Res 2009; 200:106-12. [PMID: 19166878 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2009.01.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2008] [Revised: 12/27/2008] [Accepted: 01/03/2009] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Acute exposure to the predator odor trimethylthiazoline (TMT) induces defensive behavior in the male rat, and this response is associated with a decrease in cell proliferation within the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. Sexual experience appears to be protective, as it exerts anxiolytic-like effects and sustains gonadal function in the face of stress. To examine the influence of sexual experience on subsequent stress-induced defensive behavior and cell proliferation in the hippocampus we exposed adult male rats to TMT odor with or without prior exposure to sexually receptive female rats. A subset of rats was injected with the DNA-synthesis marker bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU; 200 mg/kg) during TMT exposure and perfused 24 h later to provide an index of cell proliferation within the dentate gyrus. In response to TMT, sexual experience reduced the duration of stretched attend postures, but had no significant effect on defensive burying. Furthermore, TMT induced a significant increase in cell proliferation in the dentate gyrus, but only in males with sexual experience. The results demonstrate an influence of socio-sexual experience on the magnitude of the behavioral and neural responses to predator odor stress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark D Spritzer
- Department of Psychology, The University of British Columbia, 2136 West Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T1Z4, Canada
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Carro-Juárez M, Rodríguez-Manzo G. The spinal pattern generator for ejaculation. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2008; 58:106-20. [PMID: 18241924 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainresrev.2007.12.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2007] [Revised: 11/14/2007] [Accepted: 12/05/2007] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Miguel Carro-Juárez
- Laboratorio de Comportamiento Reproductivo, Escuela de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, C.P.90000, Tlaxcala, México.
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Fulford W, Russel M, Model P. Aspects of the growth and regulation of the filamentous phages. PROGRESS IN NUCLEIC ACID RESEARCH AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 1986; 33:141-68. [PMID: 3541041 DOI: 10.1016/s0079-6603(08)60022-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
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