Estrogen in peripheral plasma during postnatal development in gray short-tailed opossums

doi:10.1016/0031-9384(92)90356-7

Physiology & Behavior

Volume 52, Issue 3, September 1992, Pages 613-616

https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-9384(92)90356-7 Get rights and content

Abstract

Plasma samples obtained from gray short-tailed opossums (Monodelphis domestica) at selected ages through adulthood were assayed for estrogen (E). Levels of E in one mixed-sex plasma pool of animals aged postnatal day (pd) 4 and one of two mixed-sex plasma pools of animals aged pd 8 were over 300 pg/ml. On pd 16, E levels in males and females averaged 30 and 47 pg/ml, respectively. While no significant sex differences in E levels were seen on pd 30 or pd 60, mean E levels for animals on pd 30 were significantly higher (275 pg/ml in males and 181 pg/ml in females) than on pd 60 (78 pg/ml in males and 85 pg/ml in females) or pd 145 (adults). In adult animals, estrogen levels in females averaged 54 pg/ml; all adult male E levels were below the limit of sensitivity of the assay. Maternal E levels, which did not vary significantly by age of litter, averaged 10 pg/ml overall. These findings are discussed with respect to possible significance of high E levels in developing marsupials for sexual differentiation and general brain development.

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Perinatal exposure to progesterone, estradiol, or mifepristone affects sexual differentiation of behavior in opossums (Monodelphis domestica)
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The effects of perinatal exposure to progesterone (P) and estradiol (E) on sexual differentiation of behavior and morphology were examined by treating male and female gray short-tailed opossums on postnatal day 8 with progesterone alone (P), P plus estradiol (E) (PE), the P receptor antagonist mifepristone/RU486 (MIF), or corn oil control (C) and gonadectomizing them before puberty. When given female hormone replacement therapy in adulthood and tested with intact stimulus males, MIF animals showed less female-typical aggressive threat behavior than animals in other treatment groups. Stimulus males scent marked in more tests involving females than males and in more tests involving MIF animals than animals in other treatment groups. Body weight was lower in females than in males and was lower in MIF animals than in animals in other treatment groups, and P females failed to show female-typical genital locks after copulation. Sexual receptivity was similar in males and females and, while not decreased by any perinatal hormone treatment, was higher in PE males than in animals of either sex in any treatment group. These findings suggest that perinatal exposure to P is associated with the organization of feminine threat behavior and the defeminization of attractivity, body weight and genital anatomy in this marsupial. Reasons for these findings and for why female sexual receptivity is enhanced by perinatal exposure to exogenous E only in an endogenous masculine environment are discussed.
Evidence for extended action of gonadal hormones on the organization of sexually dimorphic behavior and morphology in gray short-tailed opossums (Monodelphis domestica)
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Male and female gray short-tailed opossums were gonadectomized (GDX), or treated with the estrogen receptor antagonist tamoxifen citrate (TX), or corn oil (OIL) (control) during the 5th postnatal week, a time period equivalent to the 3rd postnatal week in rats and associated with high levels of circulating gonadal hormones and neural aromatase activity in this marsupial species. In adulthood following gonadectomy (for animals not previously gonadectomized) and replacement therapy with estradiol or testosterone, GDX males showed less male-typical scent marking and had shorter phalluses than OIL and TX males. Following replacement therapy with estradiol, GDX females were more likely to fight with and less likely to mate with stimulus males than TX females; OIL females were intermediate in these measures. Along with previous findings, these results suggest that gonadal hormones act over an extended postnatal period to organize sexually dimorphic behavior and morphology in male gray opossums and may have some effect on the organization of aggressive behavior in females of this species.
Perinatal exposure to estradiol masculinizes aspects of sexually dimorphic behavior and morphology in gray short-tailed opossums (Monodelphis domestica)
2000, Hormones and Behavior
The effects on adult sexually dimorphic behavior of perinatal exposure to estrogen were examined by treating male and female gray opossums with estradiol (EST), an estrogen receptor antagonist (tamoxifen:TX) or oil control (OIL) during the first week of life, a time period corresponding in this marsupial to late gestation in rodent species. Following gonadectomy and replacement therapy with testosterone in adulthood, males showed more scent-marking behavior than females and EST animals showed more scent marking than TX or OIL animals. Also, phalluses were longer and body weight was higher in males than in females and in EST-treated animals than in TX-treated animals; OIL animals were intermediate in these morphological measures. EST animals of both sexes showed less female-typical screeching threat behavior than OIL or TX animals. Because these hormone manipulations were conducted on the “fetus” directly in this marsupial (rather than via the maternal circulation as in previously studied eutherian species), these findings provide unique confirming evidence for masculinization of aspects of behavior and morphology by early exposure to estradiol in mammals.
Development of NADPH-diaphorase expression in chemosensory systems of the opossum, Monodelphis domestica
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Using NADPH-diaphorase histochemistry, the present study describes development of olfactory and vomeronasal systems in postnatal opossums, Monodelphis domestica. NADPH-dependent staining is absent at and around the time of birth. By 2 weeks of age and through adulthood, intense staining is seen along the luminal surface of the olfactory epithelium (OE) and of the vomeronasal sensory epithelium (VNE), as well as in Bowman's glands of the OE. Staining of the adult VNE is not homogeneous; it is restricted to the superficial 2/3 of the epithelium. At 2 weeks of age, staining in the brain is seen only at the surface of the ventricles and in blood vessels. At 1 month of age and through adulthood, staining of varying intensity is seen in individual olfactory bulb glomeruli, although the incoming olfactory axons are relatively unstained. Interestingly, whereas at 30 days of age, staining of the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB) glomeruli is uniform, 2 weeks later and in the adult, NADPH staining is concentrated in the rostral half, with little or no staining observed in the posterior portion. Darkly stained periglomerular cells are seen throughout the extent of the differentially-stained glomerular layer. From 30 days of age and through adulthood, intense NADPH staining is also observed in the islands of Calleja, as well as in cells of the dorsal cortex, often associated with the path of the rostral migratory stream.
The effects of neonatal treatment with tamoxifen on sexually dimorphic behavior and morphology in gray short-tailed opossums (Monodelphis domestica)
1995, Hormones and Behavior
The effects of postnatal exposure to the antiestrogen tamoxifen on sexually dimorphic behavior and morphology in adult male and female gray short-tailed opossums were examined. Following gonadecomy and treatment with estradiol in adulthood, neonatally tamoxifen-treated (TX) females showed less female-typical screeching threat behavior and TX males showed less male-typical precopulatory behavior than same-sex controls. While testes failed to descend and phalluses were shorter in juvenile TX males than in juvenile control males, behavior did not differ between TX and control animals following treatment with testosterone in adulthood. The findings that activity level following treatment with estradiol in adulthood and body weight in juveniles and adults were significantly higher in TX than in control animals of both sexes suggest that perinatal estrogens are involved also in the organization of these characteristics. The significance of these findings is discussed with respect to the development of sex differences in behavior and morphology in eutherian mammals.
The development of serotonergic projections to the olfactory bulb of Monodelphis domestica (the grey, short-tailed opossum)
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The offspring of Monodelphis domestica (grey, short-tailed opossum) are born in a very immature state after a short (14-day) gestation period. As a result, they provide a useful mammalian model for examining quite early stages of brain maturation. The present study demonstrates that the onset and development of serotonergic (5-HT) projections to the Monodelphis olfactory bulb can be traced entirely after birth. 5-HT was visualized in tissue sections from postnatal day 5 (P5), P10, P20, P30, and adult opossums using avidin-biotin peroxidase immunocytochemistry. 5-HT afferent fibers are rare in the bulb until P10. Maturation occurs slowly, but by P30, 5-HT fibers assume the adult form characterized by preferential glomerular innervation. Due to the postnatal development, slow maturation, and specificity of innervation patterns, the Monodelphis bulb provides a model with which to study the regulation of serotonergic development.

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¹: Supported by NSF Grants BNS 8616514 and BNS 8919601 to B.H.F.

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Estrogen in peripheral plasma during postnatal development in gray short-tailed opossums

Abstract

Horm. Behav.

Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev.

Dev. Brain Res.

Prog. Brain Res.

Sex hormones and sexual orientation in animals

Psychobiology

Biological handbooks: Growth including reproduction and morphological development

Hormones vs. constitutional factors in the growth of embryonic sex primordia in the opossum

Am. J. Anat.

Plasma concentration of LH, FSH, prolactin, progesterone and estradiol throughout the estrous cycle of the rat

Endocrinology

Adrenocortical hormones in the neonate and pouch young of the tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii)

J. Endocrinol.

Changes with age in levels of serum gonadotropins, prolactin and gonadal steroids in prepubertal male and female rats

Endocrinology

Evidence for high levels of androgen in periheral plasma during postnatal development in a marsupial: The gray short-tailed opossum (Monodelphis domestica)

Biol. Reprod.

Aromatase activity in the brains of neonatal gray short tailed opossums (Monodelphis domestica)

Soc. Neurosci. Abstr.

Inhibition of testicular development and feminization of the male genitalia by neonatal estrogen treatment in a marsupial

Biol. Reprod.

Early differentiation of the gonads in the gray short-tailed opossum (Monodelphis domestica)

Biol. Neonate

The synthesis and metabolism of gonadal steroids in pouch young of the opossum (Didelphis virginiana)

Endocrinology

Effect of ovarian secretions on female behavioral potentiality in the rat

J. Comp. Physiol. Psychol.

Sites of androgen and estradiol production in the second half of pregnancy in the rat

Biol. Reprod.