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Sex, steroids, and stimulant sensitivity
C M Kuhn1, Q D Walker, K A Kaplan
1Department of Pharmacology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710, USA. ckuhn@duke.edu
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
|July 19, 2001
Summary
Female rats show a greater response to cocaine due to ovarian hormones. Gonadal steroids, through activational and organizational effects, influence cocaine
Area of Science:
- Neuropharmacology
- Endocrinology
- Behavioral Neuroscience
Background:
- Sex differences in drug responses are well-documented.
- Gonadal steroids are implicated in modulating behavioral responses to psychostimulants like cocaine.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of ovarian hormones in modulating the locomotor response to cocaine in rats.
- To explore the influence of gonadal steroids on sex differences in cocaine-induced locomotion.
Main Methods:
- Ovariectomy and castration were performed in adult rats.
- Locomotor activity was measured after cocaine administration (10 mg/kg i.p.).
- Effects of neonatal testosterone treatment on female rats were assessed in adulthood.
Main Results:
- Ovariectomy significantly lowered the locomotor response to cocaine in females.
- Castration did not alter the response to cocaine in males.
- Prepubertal males and females exhibited similar responses to cocaine.
- Postpubertal sex differences emerged due to decreased locomotion in males, not increased in females.
- Neonatal testosterone exposure in females reduced adult cocaine response.
Conclusions:
- Ovarian hormones play a crucial role in modulating cocaine-induced locomotor activity.
- Both organizational (neonatal exposure) and activational (adult hormones) effects of gonadal steroids contribute to sex differences in cocaine response.
- These findings highlight the neuroendocrine basis for differential responses to drugs of abuse between sexes.