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This version published online on April 3, 2003
Endocrinology, doi:10.1210/en.2002-0145
A more recent version of this article appeared on July 1, 2003
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Submitted on December 16, 2002
Accepted on March 24, 2003

Glucocorticoids and sex-dependent development of brain glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid receptors

Dawn Owen1 and Stephen G. Matthews1*

1 Departments of PhysiologyObstetrics and Gynecologyand Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Medical Sciences Building, 1 King's College Circle, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1A8. Canada.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: stephen.matthews{at}utoronto.ca.

We have previously shown that repeated antenatal synthetic glucocorticoid exposure has sex-specific effects on HPA development in the fetal and adult guinea pig. However, little is known about the mechanisms that underlie these sex-specific outcomes. In the current study, we demonstrated that glucocorticoid receptors (GR) and mineralocorticoid receptors (MR) exhibit sex differences in their temporal and spatial expression during fetal and early postnatal life. During development, we observed decreased GR mRNA in the paraventricular nucleus, decreased MR mRNA and MR protein in the hippocampus, and increased GR mRNA and GR protein in the hippocampus. We have also shown that at gd50, maternally administered BETA reduces fetal plasma ACTH and cortisol concentrations. BETA significantly affected hippocampal MR protein expression, and this effect was greatest in males. BETA was unable to autoregulate GR protein during fetal life indicating that regulation of brain corticosteroid receptors is fundamentally different than in adult life. The sex differences in the pattern of GR and MR expression during development may indicate different windows of vulnerability to prenatal glucocorticoid exposure in fetal life.


Key words: Glucocorticoids • development • glucocorticoid receptor • mineralocorticoid receptor • limbic system • HPA axis • fetus • guinea pig




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