Hormonal regulation of axonal sprouting in the hippocampus

Removal of septal fibers to the rat hippocampal formation is followed by an ingrowth of sympathetic axons into the deafferented regions. We have shown previously that the pattern of sprouting is more restricted in males than in females when the lesions are made in mature animals, but is almost the same if lesions are made during the early postnatal period. In the present study, the relationship of circulating sex hormones to the sprouting response was investigated by comparing the extent of sympathetic axon ingrowth following fimbrial lesions in intact or gonadectomized adult male and female rats. The effects of manipulating sex steroids during development was examined by comparing sympathetic axonal sprouting after fimbrial lesions in rats which were castrated (male) or treated with testosterone (females and castrated males) on postnatal day 2. We find that (1) gonadectomy of either adult female or male rats does not affect the sprouting response, but (2) neonatal castration of male rats permits sprouting in a pattern similar to normal females, and neonatal testosterone treatment of females or castrated males results in the more limited sprouting response characteristic of normal males. These results indicate that the sex-related differential response to fimbrial lesions may be determined by developmental differences in endogenous steroid levels.