Prepubescent Electronic Cigarette Exposure Affects Sexual Motivation and Puberty in Female But Not Male Long-Evans Rats.

Introduction: A method for delivering vaporized nicotine to animals has been developed using e-cigarette devices. The present experiment was designed to measure the effects of e-cigarette nicotine on pubertal onset and development of reproductive behavior in female and male Long-Evans rats.

Aim And Methods: Rats received daily 10-min sessions of electronic-cigarette vaporized nicotine (5% Virginia Tobacco JUUL Pods) or room air in a whole-body exposure chamber (postnatal day 28-31).

Chronic periadolescent leuprolide exposure affects the development of reproductive physiology and behavior of female and male rats differently, but both mature after treatment termination.

Background: GnRH agonists have been used to halt the development of puberty in children with precocious puberty since the 1980s. Recently, drugs like Lupron Depot (leuprolide acetate), have been used to suppress pubertal progression in adolescents who are questioning their gender identity. However, few preclinical studies have been conducted to investigate potential effects of using GnRH agonists in this context.

Daily GnRH agonist treatment effectively delayed puberty in female rats without long-term effects on sexual behavior or estrous cyclicity.

The present study examined the long-term effects of suppressing puberty with a GnRH agonist on reproductive physiology and behavior in female rats. We have recently reported that administration of the GnRH agonist leuprolide acetate (25 µg/kg) daily between postnatal day (PD) 25-50 delayed puberty and disrupted the development of copulatory behavior and sexual motivation in male rats. However, pilot data from our lab suggest that this low dose of leuprolide acetate (25 µg/kg) was not high enough to significantly delay puberty in female rats.

Male rat sexual behavior: Insights from inter-copulatory intervals.

The assessment of sexual behavior in male rats with the aim of unraveling underlying neurobiological mechanisms has in the recent decades been reduced to the annotation of mounts, intromissions and ejaculations. To provide a better understanding of the structure and patterns of copulation, it is necessary to extend and tailor the analysis to the natural organization of male rat copulation. This will lead to better formulation of hypotheses about neurobiological underpinnings of behavior.

Daily GnRH agonist treatment delays the development of reproductive physiology and behavior in male rats.

The present study was designed to examine the effects of suppressing pubertal onset with leuprolide acetate, a gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist. Starting on postnatal day (PD) 25, male Long-Evans rats were injected daily with either leuprolide acetate (25 μg/kg dissolved in 0.9% sterile physiological saline; n = 13) or sterile physiological saline (1.

II. Antidepressants and sexual behavior: Acute fluoxetine, but not ketamine, disrupts paced mating behavior in sexually experienced female rats.

Female sexual dysfunction is both a symptom of depression and exacerbated by treatments for depression. Ketamine, a novel treatment for depression, has been shown to enhance, whereas fluoxetine has been shown to impair sexual motivation. Sexual experience leads to more robust partner preference and paced mating behavior in female rats.

I. Antidepressants and sexual behavior: Weekly ketamine injections increase sexual behavior initially in female and male rats.

The present study characterized the effects of weekly ketamine injections on sexual behavior and anxiety in female and male rats, using a dosing protocol that mimics human therapeutic treatment for depression. In Experiment 1A, ketamine (10 mg/kg, i.p.

Neonatal exposure to genistein affects reproductive physiology and behavior in female and male Long-Evans rats.

The present study was designed to examine the effects of neonatal genistein exposure on measures of reproductive physiology and behavior. Approximately 24 h after birth, female and male Long-Evans rat pups were injected daily with genistein (150 µg, subcutaneous; n = 29) or olive oil (n = 23) between postnatal days 1 and 5. After weaning, we examined all subjects daily until they reached puberty (i.

Modified limited bedding and nesting is a model of early-life stress that affects reproductive physiology and behavior in female and male Long-Evans rats.

We used a modification of the limited bedding and nesting (LBN) model to evaluate the effects of early-life stress (ELS) on female and male reproductive physiology and behavior in Long-Evans rats. On postnatal day (PD) 2, dams and pups were transferred to a cage containing 100 mL of bedding (LBN condition) or to a cage containing 500 mL of bedding (control condition); bedding conditions remained until PD 10. In female rats, we measured vaginal opening, estrous cyclicity, female sexual behavior and motivation, and anxiety-like behavior.

Sexual Behavior is Enhanced by Regular, Repeated Mating from Young Adulthood to Middle Age in Female Long-Evans Rats.

Background: Aging is associated neuroendocrine changes in women. Animals can be used to model these changes, as well as changes in reproductive behavior.

Objective: The current study was designed to characterize mating behavior across age and assess the effects of age and sexual history on mating behavior.

"What a Girl Wants": What Can We Learn From Animal Models of Female Sexual Motivation?

Sexual motivation is notably different than other motivations such as hunger and thirst, because it lacks homeostatic drive. Sexual motivation poses no threat to physical well-being; individual survival is not at stake. Nevertheless, sexual motivation is a powerful drive and is critical for species survival.

A recreational dose of methylphenidate, but not methamphetamine, decreases anxiety-like behavior in female rats.

Methylphenidate (MPH) and methamphetamine (METH) are two commonly abused psychomotor stimulants that impact anxiety, but in a manner that is currently unclear. This study adds to the literature by testing the effects of MPH and METH on anxiety in adult female rats, which has not previously been studied. In Experiment1, changes in anxiety-like behavior were determined using the Elevated Plus Maze (EPM) following either an acute injection of saline, METH (1 mg/kg), or MPH (10 mg/kg).

The effects of ketamine on sexual behavior, anxiety, and locomotion in female rats.

The present study characterized the effects of ketamine on sexual behavior and anxiety in female rats. In Experiment 1, female subjects received an injection of ketamine (10.0mg/kg) or saline 30min prior to a sexual partner-preference test during which each female subject was given the opportunity to interact with a female stimulus or a sexually vigorous male stimulus.

An acute, non-therapeutic dose of methylphenidate disrupts partner preference in female rats.

The present study was designed to test the effects of an acute, high dose of methylphenidate (MPH; trademarked as Ritalin) on sexual behavior in female Long-Evans rats. In Experiment 1, naturally cycling subjects in estrus were tested for partner preference 20min after receiving an i.p.

Exposure to methylphenidate during peri-adolescence affects endocrine functioning and sexual behavior in female Long-Evans rats.

The present study was designed to test the effects of methylphenidate (MPH) exposure on the maturation of endocrine functioning and sexual behavior. Female rat pups received either MPH (2.0mg/kg, i.

Age and Long-Term Hormone Treatment Effects on the Ultrastructural Morphology of the Median Eminence of Female Rhesus Macaques.

The median eminence (ME) of the hypothalamus comprises the hypothalamic nerve terminals, glia (especially tanycytes) and the portal capillary vasculature that transports hypothalamic neurohormones to the anterior pituitary gland. The ultrastructure of the ME is dynamically regulated by hormones and undergoes organizational changes during development and reproductive cycles in adult females, but relatively little is known about the ME during aging, especially in nonhuman primates. Therefore, we used a novel transmission scanning electron microscopy technique to examine the cytoarchitecture of the ME of young and aged female rhesus macaques in a preclinical monkey model of menopausal hormone treatments.

Sociosexual behaviors and reproductive success of rats (Rattus norvegicus) in a seminatural environment.

A promiscuous pattern of copulation has been reported in both wild and domestic rats, and multiple paternity is common. In the present study we determined whether male sociosexual behaviors were associated with reproductive success or not. Groups of rats (3 males and 4 cycling females) were housed in a seminatural environment for a period of 8 days.

Methamphetamine induces DNA damage in specific regions of the female rat brain.

Methamphetamine (METH) is a highly addictive psychostimulant that has been shown to produce neurotoxicity. Methamphetamine increases the release of dopamine by reversing the direction of monoamine transporter proteins, leading to the formation of reactive oxygen species in the brain. In this study, we examined the effect of METH on DNA damage in vivo using the single cell gel electrophoresis assay (comet assay) under two different conditions.

Sexual attractiveness in male rats is associated with greater concentration of major urinary proteins.

Female rats show a distinct attraction for males. This attraction remains consistent without the necessity for the physical presence of the male. However, the identity of the olfactory cues contributing to attraction in rats remains unknown.

Endocannabinoid influence on partner preference in female rats.

The present study investigated the role of the endocannabinoid system on sexual motivation in the female rat. In Experiment 1, gonadally intact female rats were first tested for partner preference after a vehicle injection. Approximately 2 weeks later, all rats were tested again after an injection of the endocannabinoid antagonist, SR141716 (SR; also known as Rimonabant; 1.

"Sexy stimulants": the interaction between psychomotor stimulants and sexual behavior in the female brain.

Research indicates gender differences in sensitivity to psychomotor stimulants. Preclinical work investigating the interaction between drugs of abuse and sex-specific behaviors, such as sexual behavior, is critical to our understanding of such gender differences in humans. A number of behavioral paradigms can be used to model aspects of human sexual behavior in animal subjects.

Acute withdrawal but not long-term withdrawal from methamphetamine affects sexual behavior in female rats.

The present study was designed to investigate the long-term effects of repeated methamphetamine (MA) exposure on sexual motivation in female rats tested after a period of drug abstinence. In Experiment 1, female subjects received three injections of MA (1.0mg/kg/day, every other day) or saline and were tested for paced mating behavior (where females could control the receipt of sexual stimulation from one male rat) 21 days after their last injection.

Kin discrimination in prepubescent and adult Long-Evans rats.

The present study investigated the preference of prepubescent and adult rats for an unrelated conspecific over a closely related conspecific (e.g., father, mother).

An intact medial preoptic area is necessary for zaprinast to modulate paced mating behavior in female rats.

The present study examined the interaction between the regulation of paced mating behavior by the medial preoptic area (mPOA) and by the nitric oxide (NO)/cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) pathway, as modulated by zaprinast, a phosphodiesterase inhibitor. Rats receiving mPOA or sham lesions were tested for paced mating behavior. Subsequently, rats were treated with zaprinast (3 mg/kg) before a second paced mating test.