Prenatal stress alters sexually dimorphic nuclei in the spinal cord of male rats.

The spinal nucleus bulbocavernosus (SNB), the dorsolateral nucleus of the spinal cord (DLN), and the bulbocavernosus/levator ani (BC/LA) muscle complex were examined in prenatally stressed and control adult male rats, which had been screened for male copulatory behavior. There was a small but significant decrease in the number of DLN (5%) and SNB (3%) neurons in prenatally stressed males compared to controls. Prenatal stress had no effect on the somal or nuclear area of individual neurons within either nucleus, nor did it affect the weight of the BC/LA muscle complex. There were no differences in any of these measures between males that ejaculated and those did not in either the stressed or the control group. These data suggest that exposure of pregnant rats to transient environmental stressors may result in permanent alterations in androgen-sensitive CNS structures in their male offspring.