Perinatal modification of a sexually dimorphic motor nucleus in the spinal cord of the B6D2F1 house mouse

The sexually dimorphic dorsomedial nucleus (DM) of the spinal cord of mice is affected by gonadal steroids in adulthood and these effects are dependent upon genotype. Following castration of adult mice there is a decrease in DM cell size in DBA/2J and hybrid B6D2F1 strains and a decrease in the number of cells staining with thionin in C57B1/6J and B6D2F1 strains. The effects of androgens on development of the DM nucleus were examined in B6D2F1 mice, which exhibit both characteristics in adulthood. Testosterone propionate (TP) administered to females pre- or postnatally resulted in a significantly larger number of motoneurons in the region of the DM when compared to administration of the vehicle alone, while soma area remained unchanged. Adult males castrated on the day of birth had significantly fewer cells in the DM than did intact males. Differences in cell size between shams and castrates were dependent upon age.