Androgen Affects the Inhibitory Avoidance Memory by Primarily Acting on Androgen Receptor in the Brain in Adolescent Male Rats

Overview

Journal Brain Sci

Publisher MDPI

Date 2021 Mar 6

PMID 33672867

Citations 3

Authors

Md Nabiul Islam

Yuya Sakimoto

Mir Rubayet Jahan

Emi Miyasato

Abu Md Mamun Tarif

Kanako Nozaki

Koh-Hei Masumoto

Akie Yanai

Dai Mitsushima

Koh Shinoda

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Adolescence is the critical postnatal stage for the action of androgen in multiple brain regions. Androgens can regulate the learning/memory functions in the brain. It is known that the inhibitory avoidance test can evaluate emotional memory and is believed to be dependent largely on the amygdala and hippocampus. However, the effects of androgen on inhibitory avoidance memory have never been reported in adolescent male rats. In the present study, the effects of androgen on inhibitory avoidance memory and on androgen receptor (AR)-immunoreactivity in the amygdala and hippocampus were studied using behavioral analysis, Western blotting and immunohistochemistry in sham-operated, orchiectomized, orchiectomized + testosterone or orchiectomized + dihydrotestosterone-administered male adolescent rats. Orchiectomized rats showed significantly reduced time spent in the illuminated box after 30 min (test 1) or 24 h (test 2) of electrical foot-shock (training) and reduced AR-immunoreactivity in amygdala/hippocampal cornu Ammonis (CA1) in comparison to those in sham-operated rats. Treatment of orchiectomized rats with either non-aromatizable dihydrotestosterone or aromatizable testosterone were successfully reinstated these effects. Application of flutamide (AR-antagonist) in intact adolescent rats exhibited identical changes to those in orchiectomized rats. These suggest that androgens enhance the inhibitory avoidance memory plausibly by binding with AR in the amygdala and hippocampus.

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