Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37429264›Full record

ArticleNeuroendocrinology2023

Sex Steroid Hormone Receptor Content of Medial Preoptic Efferents to the Ventral Tegmental Area Is Sexually Dimorphic: Implications for Sex Differences in Mesolimbic Reward Processing.

Julia R Martz, Adriana Vasquez, Juan M Dominguez

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Neuroendocrinology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Julia R MartzDepartment of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA.
Adriana VasquezDepartment of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA.
Juan M DominguezDepartment of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA.

Funding

Neurochemical & Behavioral Correlates of ETOH EffectsT32AA007471 · NIAAA · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AUSTIN · PI Kimberly Nixon · 1987 to 2026
$9.2M
A Role for the Preoptic Area in Modulating Cocaine RewardR01DA032789 · NIDA · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN · PI DOMINGUEZ, JUAN M · 2012 to 2016
$1.5M
NIAAA NIH HHS T32 AA007471NIDA NIH HHS R01 DA032789
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionThe medial preoptic area (mPOA) is an important regulator of natural and drug-induced reward. However, despite the mPOA being implicated in sexually dimorphic reward responses, sex differences in medial preoptic efferents to the ventral tegmental area (VTA) have not been fully investigated.

methodsTwo cohorts of male and female rats received unilateral injections of the tract-tracer Fluoro-Gold (FLG) into the VTA. Immunohistochemical staining was used to quantify co-labeled FLG-positive neurons with γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), estrogen receptor α (ERα), and androgen receptors (AR).

resultsResults revealed a pattern of VTA innervation that was comparable between males and females; more efferents emerged from the rostrocentral portions of the mPOA than caudal portions. Results also indicated that males and females had the same percentage of GABAergic mPOA-VTA projections. Differences emerged when investigating the hormone receptor profile of projections to the VTA, where females had a greater percentage of efferents expressing ERα and males had a greater percentage of efferents expressing AR, in the central portion of the mPOA. Lastly, FLG-positive cells were colocalized with GABA and ERα in cohort 1 and GABA and AR in cohort 2. The majority of AR-expressing cells colocalized with GABAergic efferents to the VTA, but only a portion of ERα-expressing cells colocalized with GABAergic efferents to the VTA.

conclusionResults indicate that sex differences are present in the sex-steroid hormone receptor content of mPOA-VTA projections, particularly among efferents arising from the central region of the mPOA. These sexually dimorphic connections may influence a wide range of sex differences in reward responses.

Indexed as

Estrogen Receptor alphaVentral Tegmental AreaAnimalsFemalegamma-Aminobutyric AcidGonadal Steroid HormonesHormonesHumansMalePreoptic AreaRatsRewardSex CharacteristicsEstrogen Receptor alphagamma-Aminobutyric AcidGonadal Steroid HormonesHormonesEstrogen receptorGABAMedial preoptic areaSex differencesVentral tegmental area

Identifiers

PMID37429264
PMCPMC10776825

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.