Theses and Dissertations

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

Elder, Steven H.

Committee Member

Simpson, Chartrisa LaShan

Committee Member

Eells, Jeffrey B.

Committee Member

Coolen, Lique

Date of Degree

8-15-2014

Document Type

Graduate Thesis - Open Access

Major

Biomedical Engineering

Degree Name

Master of Science (M.S.)

College

James Worth Bagley College of Engineering

Department

Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering

Abstract

Female sheep exposed to excess testosterone (T) in utero display symptoms similar to those observed in women with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). Prenatal T-treated ewes display masculinized sexual behavior and increased food-reward seeking behavior. A neural substrate critical for these goal-directed behaviors is the dopaminergic system in the ventral tegmental area. We have recently shown that in adult ewes dopamine expression in the VTA is increased by prenatal T exposure. In this thesis, I tested the hypothesis that alterations of the VTA dopamine system by prenatal-T are caused via activation of androgen (AR) and/or insulin receptors (IR). Analysis of immunohistochemical staining shows an increase of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) expression, AR, or IR, along with changes in co-expression of AR/TH and IR/TH. These changes were blocked or reversed by prenatal treatments with flutamide or rosiglitazone, or postnatal treatments with rosiglitazone or metformin, implicating AR and IR in alterations of the VTA

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11668/21085

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