Sexual metabolic differences in the rat limbic brain

  1. Arias del Castillo, Natalia 1
  2. Morán, Javier 1
  3. Conejo Jiménez, Nélida María 1
  4. Arias Pérez, Jorge Luis 1
  1. 1 Universidad de Oviedo
    info

    Universidad de Oviedo

    Oviedo, España

    ROR https://ror.org/006gksa02

Revista:
Psicothema

ISSN: 0214-9915

Año de publicación: 2013

Volumen: 25

Número: 4

Páginas: 461-467

Tipo: Artículo

Otras publicaciones en: Psicothema

Resumen

Background: There is actually limited evidence about the influence of estrogens on neuronal energy metabolism or functional cerebral asymmetry. In order to evaluate this relationship, eight male and sixteen female adult Wistar rats, divided into estrus and diestrus phase, were used to measure basal neuronal metabolic activity in some of the structures involved in the Papez circuit, using cytochrome c oxidase (C.O.) histochemistry. Method: We used C.O. histochemistry because cytochrome oxidase activity can be considered as a reliable endogenous marker of neuronal activity. Results: We found higher C.O. activity levels in diestrus as compared to estrus and male groups in the prefrontal cortex and thalamus. Conversely, neuronal oxidative metabolism was significantly higher in estrus than in diestrus and male groups in the dorsal and ventral hippocampus (CA1 and CA3) and in the mammillary bodies. However, no hemispheric functional lateralization was found in estrus, diestrus or male groups by C.O. activity. Conclusions: These results suggest a modulatory effect of estrogens on neuronal oxidative metabolism.

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