The neonatal treatment with clomipramina decreases sexual motivation and increases estrogen receptors expression in the septum of male rats: Effects of the apomorphine

Publication date: Available online 22 March 2019Source: Pharmacology Biochemistry and BehaviorAuthor(s): Tania Molina-Jiménez, Martín Jiménez-Tlapa, Malinalli Brianza-Padilla, Rossana Citlali Zepeda, Marisela Hernández-González, Herlinda Bonilla-JaimeAbstractAdministering clomipramine during the early days of life induced several behavioral and neurochemical alterations in adult male rats, which resemble major depression disorder. The alterations affected sexual performance, which is considered a reward-seeking behavior regulated by the dopaminergic system. Given that estrogen receptors are expressed in different areas of the brain involved in regulating reproductive behavior, motivation and mood, the objective of this study was to analyze the effect of apomorphine (a non-selective dopamine agonist) on sexual incentive motivation in rats exposed to clomipramine (CMI) in the neonatal period. In addition, it evaluated the expression of mRNA ERα and ERβ in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) and septum of CMI rats. We found that only a few rats subjected to neonatal CMI treatment performed mounts, intromissions and ejaculations. Also, those rats spent less time exploring the sexual incentive zone and had lower preference scores; though this effect was reverted by administering 0.1 mg/kg of apomorphine. Finally, the CMI rats presented higher levels of mRNA ERα and ERβ, though only in the septum. These data indicate that neonatal treatment with CMI altered the expression of mR...
Source: Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior - Category: Biochemistry Source Type: research