Effect of gonadal steroids on activities of monoamine oxidase and choline acetylase in rat brain.

Gonadectomized male and female rats were treated with equimolar doses of estradiol benzoate (EB) and testosterone propionate (TP) daily for periods of 3 days to 1 week and activities of monoamine oxidase (MAO) and choline acetyltransferase (ChAc) were measured in the cortex, hippocampus, basomedial hypothalamus, corticomedial amygdala and medial preoptic areas. After hormone treatment, changes in enzyme activities were found in those brain regions where gonadal hormones are known to affect sexual behavior and/or gonadotropin release and which contain putative hormone receptor sites. More specifically, EB administration to females resulted in decreased activity of MAO in the corticomedial amygdala and basomedial hypothalamus and an elevation of ChAc activity in the medial preoptic area and corticomedial amygdala while TP administration did not alter enzyme levels in any brain region. In contrast, EB administration to castrated males was without significant effect on enzyme activities while TP administration resulted in increased activity of MAO and ChAc in the medial-preoptic area. The estrogen antagonist, MER-25, given concomitantly with EB, effectively blocked EB-dependent changes in both enzymes in ovariectomized female rats. EB treatment to hypophysectomized females led to similar enzymatic changes as in ovariectomized females in all areas except the basomedial hypothalamus. Estradiol added directly to the enzyme incubation medium did not result in altered enzyme activities. Results obtained are discussed in relation to sexual differentiation of the brain, metabolism of gonadal hormones, and possible mechanism of gonadal hormone regulation of enzyme activities.