The Effects of Testosterone on Hypothalamic and Serum Oxytocin Levels Are Affected by the Estrogen Milieu in Female Rats.

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  • Additional Information
    • Source:
      Publisher: MDPI Publishing Country of Publication: Switzerland NLM ID: 101521595 Publication Model: Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 2072-6643 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 20726643 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Nutrients Subsets: MEDLINE
    • Publication Information:
      Original Publication: Basel, Switzerland : MDPI Publishing
    • Subject Terms:
      Oxytocin*/blood ; Oxytocin*/pharmacology ; Testosterone*/blood ; Hypothalamus*/metabolism ; Hypothalamus*/drug effects ; Estradiol*/blood ; Estradiol*/pharmacology ; Ovariectomy* ; Receptors, Oxytocin*/metabolism ; Receptors, Oxytocin*/genetics; Animals ; Female ; Rats ; Estrogens/blood ; Estrogens/pharmacology ; Body Weight/drug effects ; Eating/drug effects ; Eating/physiology ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Appetite/drug effects ; RNA, Messenger/metabolism
    • Abstract:
      Previous studies have suggested that the effects of androgens on body weight (BW) and appetite are affected by the estrogen milieu in females; however, the mechanism underlying these effects remains unclear. We hypothesized that androgens may affect endogenous oxytocin (OT), which is a hypothalamic anorectic factor, and that these effects of androgens may be altered by the estrogen milieu in females. To investigate this hypothesis, in the present study, we examined the effects of testosterone on peripheral and central OT levels in ovariectomized female rats that did or did not receive estradiol supplementation. Ovariectomized female rats were randomly divided into non-estradiol-supplemented or estradiol-supplemented groups, and half of the rats in each group were concurrently supplemented with testosterone (i.e., rats were divided into four groups, n = 7 per each group). We also measured peripheral and central OT receptor (OTR) gene expression levels. As a result, we found that testosterone increased serum and hypothalamic OT levels and OT receptor mRNA levels in non-estradiol-supplemented rats, whereas it had no effects on these factors in estradiol-supplemented rats. In addition, testosterone reduced food intake, BW gain, and fat weight in non-estradiol-supplemented rats, whereas it did not have any effects on BW, appetite, or fat weight in estradiol-supplemented rats. These findings indicate that the effects of androgens on OT may be affected by the estrogen milieu, and elevated OT levels may be related to the blunting of appetite and prevention of obesity under estrogen-deficient conditions.
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    • Contributed Indexing:
      Keywords: androgen; estrogen; oxytocin
    • Accession Number:
      50-56-6 (Oxytocin)
      3XMK78S47O (Testosterone)
      4TI98Z838E (Estradiol)
      0 (Receptors, Oxytocin)
      0 (Estrogens)
      0 (RNA, Messenger)
      0 (oxytocin receptor, rat)
    • Publication Date:
      Date Created: 20240810 Date Completed: 20240810 Latest Revision: 20240919
    • Publication Date:
      20240920
    • Accession Number:
      PMC11314409
    • Accession Number:
      10.3390/nu16152533
    • Accession Number:
      39125412