PMID- 34428676
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20210915
LR  - 20210915
IS  - 1879-3231 (Electronic)
IS  - 0093-691X (Linking)
VI  - 174
DP  - 2021 Oct 15
TI  - Involvement of neurosteroids in the control of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal 
      axis activity in pregnant sheep under basal and stressful conditions.
PG  - 114-120
LID - S0093-691X(21)00299-5 [pii]
LID - 10.1016/j.theriogenology.2021.08.026 [doi]
AB  - Neurosteroids are synthesized locally in the brain, where they can modify 
      neuronal functionality depending on the physiological state. A high correlation 
      was demonstrated between the increasing activity of the 
      hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and allopregnanolone (AL) concentration 
      in the cerebrospinal fluid in sheep during pregnancy. Therefore, the present 
      study tested the hypothesis that blocking neurosteroid synthesis in the brain of 
      a pregnant sheep would affect HPA axis activity under both basal and stressful 
      conditions. Two groups of sheep in the fourth month of gestation (n = 7 each) 
      were subjected to the following treatments: 1) intracerebroventricular (icv) 
      infusion of vehicle for three days (C) and then icv infusion of finasteride (a 
      total of 100 mug/240 muL/day) for three days (F), one week apart, and 2) icv 
      infusion of vehicle for three days and application of stressful stimuli 
      (isolation and partial movement restriction) on the third day (S), and 
      subsequently icv infusion of finasteride for three days and application of 
      stressful stimuli on the third day (SF), one week apart. On the third days of the 
      experiment, a 4-h push-pull perfusion of the infundibular nucleus/median eminence 
      and blood sampling were performed. Mean perfusate corticotropin-releasing hormone 
      (CRH), plasma adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) and cortisol concentrations were 
      significantly higher in sheep treated with finasteride, stress and finasteride in 
      combination with stress compared to controls. The highest hormone concentrations 
      in Groups F, S and SF, were recorded during the first 60 min; however, 
      significant increases in CRH and ACTH levels were observed in Group SF towards 
      the end of the experiment. It can be concluded that neurosteroids may be an 
      essential component of the mechanism controlling HPA axis activity in pregnant 
      sheep, not only under stress-free conditions, but more importantly, also by 
      inhibiting the neuroendocrine response to stressors.
CI  - Copyright (c) 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
FAU - Misztal, Tomasz
AU  - Misztal T
AD  - Department of Animal Physiology, The Kielanowski Institute of Animal Physiology 
      and Nutrition, Polish Academy of Sciences, Instytucka 3 St, 05-110, Jablonna, 
      Poland. Electronic address: t.misztal@ifzz.pl.
FAU - Mlotkowska, Patrycja
AU  - Mlotkowska P
AD  - Department of Animal Physiology, The Kielanowski Institute of Animal Physiology 
      and Nutrition, Polish Academy of Sciences, Instytucka 3 St, 05-110, Jablonna, 
      Poland.
FAU - Marciniak, Elzbieta
AU  - Marciniak E
AD  - Department of Animal Physiology, The Kielanowski Institute of Animal Physiology 
      and Nutrition, Polish Academy of Sciences, Instytucka 3 St, 05-110, Jablonna, 
      Poland.
FAU - Roszkowicz-Ostrowska, Katarzyna
AU  - Roszkowicz-Ostrowska K
AD  - Department of Animal Physiology, The Kielanowski Institute of Animal Physiology 
      and Nutrition, Polish Academy of Sciences, Instytucka 3 St, 05-110, Jablonna, 
      Poland.
FAU - Misztal, Anna
AU  - Misztal A
AD  - Department of Animal Physiology, The Kielanowski Institute of Animal Physiology 
      and Nutrition, Polish Academy of Sciences, Instytucka 3 St, 05-110, Jablonna, 
      Poland.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
DEP - 20210820
PL  - United States
TA  - Theriogenology
JT  - Theriogenology
JID - 0421510
RN  - 0 (Neurosteroids)
RN  - 9002-60-2 (Adrenocorticotropic Hormone)
RN  - 9015-71-8 (Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone)
RN  - WI4X0X7BPJ (Hydrocortisone)
SB  - IM
MH  - Adrenocorticotropic Hormone/metabolism
MH  - Animals
MH  - Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone/metabolism
MH  - Female
MH  - Hydrocortisone
MH  - *Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System/metabolism
MH  - *Neurosteroids
MH  - Pituitary-Adrenal System
MH  - Pregnancy
MH  - Sheep
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - Allopregnanolone
OT  - Finasteride
OT  - Neurosteroids
OT  - Pregnancy
OT  - Sheep
OT  - Stress response
COIS- Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflict of interest 
      that could be perceived as prejudicing the impartiality of the research reported.
EDAT- 2021/08/25 06:00
MHDA- 2021/09/16 06:00
CRDT- 2021/08/24 20:20
PHST- 2021/04/14 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2021/08/17 00:00 [revised]
PHST- 2021/08/19 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2021/08/25 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2021/09/16 06:00 [medline]
PHST- 2021/08/24 20:20 [entrez]
AID - S0093-691X(21)00299-5 [pii]
AID - 10.1016/j.theriogenology.2021.08.026 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Theriogenology. 2021 Oct 15;174:114-120. doi: 
      10.1016/j.theriogenology.2021.08.026. Epub 2021 Aug 20.