Critical influence of neonatal testosterone on stress pathways in the adult brain

下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺(HPA)轴提供了抵御动态平衡威胁(即压力)的前线，它管理着在具有挑战性的情况下能量储备的动员。HPA轴活动的性别差异可以部分地解释为男性的睾丸素的抑制作用和女性的雌激素的刺激作用。然而，控制大鼠围产期的雄激素和雌激素暴露会对成年后HPA对压力的反应产生深远而持久的(组织)影响。一些研究继续表明，雄激素和雌激素受体参与介导性类固醇对HPA流出的组织效应。然而，我们的研究表明，HPA轴的主要调节者，即下丘脑室旁核，在神经元中缺乏直接调节HPA流出的性类固醇受体。因此，性类固醇的组织效应是如何以及在哪里在大脑中执行的还没有解决。

A frontline of defense against threats to homeostasis (i.e. stress) is provided by the hypothalamic- pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which governs the mobilization of energy stores under challenging situations. Sex differences in the activity of the HPA axis can be explained, in part, by the inhibitory actions of testosterone in males and by the stimulatory actions of estrogen in females. However, manipulating androgen and estrogen exposure over the perinatal period in the rat causes profound and permanent (organizing) effects on HPA responsiveness to stress during adulthood. Several studies continue to show an involvement of androgen and estrogen receptors in mediating the organizational effects of sex steroids on HPA outflow. However, our research has shown that the principle regulator of the HPA axis, the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus, is devoid of sex steroid receptors within neurons that regulate HPA outflow directly. Thus, how and where the organizing effects of sex steroids are executed in the brain has not been resolved.