PMID- 9450516
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 19980224
LR  - 20061115
IS  - 0887-4476 (Print)
IS  - 0887-4476 (Linking)
VI  - 28
IP  - 2
DP  - 1998 Feb
TI  - Morphological changes of synapses induced by urinary stimulation in the hamster 
      accessory olfactory bulb.
PG  - 160-6
AB  - Urinary pheromones are considered to regulate reproductive functions in various 
      rodent species. The effects of urinary stimuli on synaptic plasticity in the 
      accessory olfactory bulb (AOB), which is the primary nucleus of the vomeronasal 
      system, were studied. Adult male hamsters were divided into four groups and each 
      group was exposed to one of the following four materials: distilled water, female 
      hamster urine, female rat urine, and male hamster urine. After 15 days, the sizes 
      of synapses in the glomerular and the mitral/tufted (MT) cell layers of the AOB 
      were measured. The glomerular synapses, located between the axons of sensory 
      cells and the dendrites of MT cells, were larger in the groups exposed to either 
      the female hamster or the female rat urine compared with those for the distilled 
      water and male hamster urine groups. In the MT cell layer, the synapses are of 
      two types: asymmetrical excitatory synapses and symmetrical inhibitory ones. 
      Exposure of adult male hamsters to female hamster urine induced a reduction in 
      the size of asymmetrical synapses, while on exposure to other kinds of urine 
      there was no synaptic change. The sizes of the symmetrical synapses were not 
      changed by any urinary stimulus. The present study revealed that morphological 
      changes of synapses in the AOB were induced by urinary stimuli. Different urines 
      induced different morphological responses. It is suggested that this synaptic 
      plasticity is responsible for regulation of the output of pheromonal information 
      from the AOB to the higher centers of the vomeronasal system.
FAU - Matsuoka, M
AU  - Matsuoka M
AD  - Laboratory of Veterinary Ethology, University of Tokyo, Japan.
FAU - Mori, Y
AU  - Mori Y
FAU - Ichikawa, M
AU  - Ichikawa M
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
PL  - United States
TA  - Synapse
JT  - Synapse (New York, N.Y.)
JID - 8806914
RN  - 0 (Sex Attractants)
SB  - IM
MH  - Animals
MH  - Cricetinae
MH  - Male
MH  - Microscopy, Electron
MH  - Neuronal Plasticity/physiology
MH  - Olfactory Bulb/*physiology/ultrastructure
MH  - *Sex Attractants
MH  - Synapses/*ultrastructure
MH  - *Urine
MH  - Vomeronasal Organ/physiology/ultrastructure
EDAT- 1998/02/05 07:41
MHDA- 2000/06/20 09:00
CRDT- 1998/02/05 07:41
PHST- 1998/02/05 07:41 [pubmed]
PHST- 2000/06/20 09:00 [medline]
PHST- 1998/02/05 07:41 [entrez]
AID - 10.1002/(SICI)1098-2396(199802)28:2<160::AID-SYN6>3.0.CO;2-9 [pii]
AID - 10.1002/(SICI)1098-2396(199802)28:2<160::AID-SYN6>3.0.CO;2-9 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Synapse. 1998 Feb;28(2):160-6. doi: 
      10.1002/(SICI)1098-2396(199802)28:2<160::AID-SYN6>3.0.CO;2-9.