Aggressive behavior is modulated by many factors, including personality and cognition, as well as endocrine and neural changes. To study the potential effects on the reaction to provocation, which ...was realized by an ostensible opponent subtracting money from the participant, we administered testosterone (T) and arginine vasopressin (AVP) or a respective placebo (PL). Forty males underwent a functional magnetic resonance imaging session while performing a provocation paradigm. We investigated differential hormone effects and the potential influence of Machiavellian traits on punishment choices (monetary subtractions by the participant) in the paradigm. Participants in the T/AVP group subtracted more money when they were not provoked but showed increased activation in the inferior frontal gyrus and inferior parietal lobule during feedback compared to PL. Higher Machiavellian traits significantly increased punishing behavior independent of provocation only in this group. The pilot study shows that T/AVP affects neural and behavioral responses during a provocation paradigm while personality characteristics, such as Machiavellian trait patterns, specifically interact with hormonal influences (T/AVP) and their effects on behavior.
SIDROM KALLMANN I. Velea; Corina Paul; Ionela Tămăşan ...
Revista română de pediatrie,
09/2011, Letnik:
60, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Sindromul Kallmann se caracterizează prin defi cit izolat de GnRH, asociat cu hipo/anosmie. La examenul clinic al pacienţilor cu sindrom Kallmann se decelează micropenis, criptorhidie, absenţa ...instalării pubertăţii, infertilitate. Se prezintă cazul unui adolescent în vârstă de 16 ani, afi rmativ cu anosmie şi hipogonadism (sesizat de aparţinători) încă de la vârsta de 2-3 ani. A fost evaluat în repetate rânduri în diferite servicii medicale, fără a se stabili un diagnostic de certitudine. Ulterior, pacientul se internează în Clinica II Pediatrie pentru investigaţii suplimentare şi precizare de diagnostic.
The gonadal hormone testosterone not only regulates sexual behavior but is also involved in social behavior and cognition in both sexes. Changes in testosterone secretion in response to stress have ...been reported. In addition, stress associated mental disorders such as borderline personality disorder (BPD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are characterized by alterations in basal testosterone metabolism. However, testosterone changes to stress have not been investigated in mental disorders such as BPD and PTSD so far.
In the study described, we investigated testosterone reactivity to an acute psychosocial stressor, the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). Our sample consisted of young adult women with BPD (n = 28), PTSD (n = 22) or both disorders (n = 22), and healthy control (n = 51). Based on previous studies on basal testosterone secretion in these disorders, we expected the stress-associated testosterone reactivity to be higher in the BPD group and lower in the PTSD group, when compared to the healthy control group.
The study could demonstrate an increase in testosterone after acute stress exposure across all groups and independent of BPD or PTSD status. Different possible explanations for the absence of a group effect are discussed.
From the results of this study, we conclude that stress-related changes in testosterone release are not affected by BPD or PTSD status in a female patient population. This study expands the knowledge about changes in gonadal hormones and stress reactivity in these disorders.
To investigate differences in hemodynamic, hormonal and heart rate variability parameters in women following complication-free pregnancies (healthy), preeclampsia and gestational diabetes mellitus ...(GDM) after giving childbirth. Data of 60 women (healthy: n = 29, age 32.7 ± 4.5 years, BMI 24.2 ± 4.3 kg/m2; preeclampsia: n = 16, age 35.3 ± 4.4 years, 28.5 ± 6.4 kg/m2; GDM, n = 15, age 32.3 ± 6.0 years, BMI 26.4 ± 6.2 kg/m2) were included. Two visits were conducted 16 and 48 weeks after giving childbirth. Hair samples were taken for analysis of cortisol and testosterone. ECG and blood pressure were recorded at each visit. Data were analyzed via RM-ANOVA and post-hoc testing (p ≤ 0.05). Heart rate increased from visit 1 to visit 2, whereas SDNN decreased (both p = 0.03). RMSSD showed an increased trend for groups (p = 0.06). Testosterone in the GDM group was significantly higher compared to the other groups (p = 0.002). Cortisol levels were significantly higher following post-hoc testing GDM was different compared to healthy individuals (p = 0.02). Hemodynamic changes from week 16 to week 48 did not differ between groups (p > 0.05). No differences between individuals with preeclampsia and healthy individuals were found for all hemodynamic parameters (p > 0.05). The study showed higher levels of chronic stress indicators in GDM measured via heart rate variability and cortisol compared to women with a history of preeclampsia and healthy women.
There is compelling evidence that a hypercaloric, high-fructose diet can cause metabolic syndrome (MetS) and a whole range of other metabolic changes. In the context of androgen deficiency, MetS in ...boys merits special attention, but the effects of fructose-rich diet in youth on future male reproductive function are still poorly evidenced. The aim of this study was to address this issue and analyse the effects of high-fructose intake starting from weaning to puberty (postnatal day 23 up to 83) on the reproductive function of male rats. For this purpose juvenile male Wistar rats were divided in two groups: control and the group receiving 10 % fructose solution instead of drinking water. Reproductive function was evaluated in terms of fertility, sperm count, testes/epididymis morphology, and serum sex hormones. The fructose-treated group showed a decrease in testosterone and twofold increase in luteinising and follicle-stimulating hormone levels in the serum. This was accompanied with lower testis/epididymis weights, sperm count, and changed testis/epididymis morphology. Their fertility remained unchanged, but the fertility of females mating with these males diminished. In addition, pre-implantation and post-implantation embryonic death rate rose in these females. Our results have confirmed that high fructose consumption from early age until puberty can impair the reproductive function of male rats, and call for further animal and epidemiological investigation.
Purpose: The aim of this sudy was to evaluate if testosterone administration possesses any ameliorative effects on age-related redox imbalance in liver tissue of male rats.
Materials and Methods: Our ...study consists of three groups of male rats (n=24). Group 1: Young controls and Group 2: Aged rats that were administrated peanut oil intramuscularly andGroup 3: Aged rats that were administered a single dose of testosterone enanthate (25 mg/kg body weight) in peanut oil intramuscularly as a vehicle. To determine oxidative damage and also antioxidative capacity, we analyzed the levels of protein carbonyl groups, advanced oxidation end products, dityrosine, kynurenine, lipid hydroperoxides, advanced glycation end products, total thiol fractions, and Cu, Zn-superoxide dismutase activities.
Results: The current study results indicate that redox balance is severely impaired in aged liver tissue via higher levels of oxidative protein damage, increased rate of lipid peroxidation, and also reduced antioxidant defense capacity. the present study showed that, testosterone administrationpartially ameliorated impaired redox balance.
Conclusion: Testosterone administration partially improved impaired redox status by alleviating macromolecular oxidative damage and increase antioxidant defense capacity but these ameliorative effects not sufficient as young controls.
Recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) has been used to treat short stature and rhGH-related syndromes. However, there are concerns that rhGH-treatment may cause precocious puberty. We investigated ...the effects of rhGH-treatment on the puberty onset, sexual maturation, androgen production, and hypothalamic gene expression in prepubertal male rats.
Sprague-Dawley male rats were injected subcutaneously daily with 1 or 2 IU/kg/d rhGH or 0.1 mL saline from postnatal day (PND) 21 to 30. At PND 31 bodyweight, reproductive organs weight, preputial separation, testis histology, circulating testosterone, and expression of testicular steroidogenic pathway genes and hypothalamic
were examined.
By day 4 of injection bodyweights of rhGH groups were significantly higher than those of controls. rhGH 2 IU group showed earlier preputial separation compared to the control group. At PND 31, the weights of testes, epididymides, seminal vesicles, prostates, and preputial glands of the 2 IU-rhGH group were significantly higher than control group. Serum testosterone levels of the 2 IU-rhGH group were significantly higher than control group. Testicular steroidogenic pathway gene
and
mRNA and cell counts and areas of Leydig cells in rhGH groups were significantly higher than control group, suggesting functional differentiation of Leydig cells. Hypothalamic
mRNA levels of the 1 IU-rhGH group were significantly lower than control group, suggesting negative feedback of
by elevated testosterone.
Prepubertal rhGH-treatment in male rats may induce early onset of puberty, sexual maturation, elevation of testosterone, and spermatogenesis, and accompanies downregulation of hypothalamic KISS1.
This pioneering study looks at the effects of prenatal testosterone on postnatal development and behavior. Hormonal effects on behavior have long been studied in animals; the unique contribution of ...this book is to suggest a connection between human fetal hormones and later behavior. It details for the first time testosterone's effect on social and language development, opening a new avenue of research for cognitive neuroscience.
The authors look at samples of amniotic fluid taken during amniocentesis at 16 weeks' gestation, and relate the fetal level of testosterone (which is present in fetuses of both sexes, although in different quantities) to behavior at ages 1, 2, and 4 years. They argue that the amniotic fluid provides a window into the child's past—a chemical record of that child's time in the womb—that allows informed prediction about the child's future brain, mind, and behavior. This is not the retrospective speculation of psychoanalysis, they point out, but an opportunity to study development prospectively and trace developmental precursors and causes of later cognition.
The study suggests that prenatal levels of testosterone affect a range of later behaviors in children, from the inclination to make eye contact with others to the size of the vocabulary. It also suggests that prenatal testosterone level may be related to the development of typically "masculine" and "feminine" behaviors. The study's ongoing research explores whether fetal testosterone has any link with the risk of developing autism. Connecting endocrinology and psychology, the authors propose that there is a biological component to behaviors often thought to be produced by the social environment.
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