Twelve neuroactive and neuroprotective steroids, androgens and androgen precursors i.e. 3a,17b-dihydroxy-5a-androstane, 3a-hydroxy-5a-androstan-17-one, 3a-hydroxy-5b-androstan-17-one, androst-5-ene-3b,17b-diol, 3b,17a-dihydroxy-pregn-5-en-20-one (17a-hydroxy-pregnenolone), 3b-hydroxy-androst-5-en-17-one (dehydroepiandrosterone, DHEA), testosterone, androst-4-ene-3,17-dione (androstenedione), 3a-hydroxy-5a-pregnan-20-one (allopregnanolone), 3b-hydroxy-pregn-5-en-20-one (pregnenolone), 7a-hydroxy-DHEA, and 7b-hydroxy-DHEA were measured using the GC-MS system in young men before and after ejaculation provoked by masturbation. The circulating level of 17a-hydroxypregnenolone increased significantly, whereas the levels of other circulating steroids did not change at all. This fact speaks against the hypothesis that a decrease in the level of neuroactive steroids, e.g. allopregnanolone, may trigger the orgasm-related increase of oxytocin as it was reported by other authors.
We studied the effect of testosterone overdose on the number,
distribution and chemical coding of ovarian neurons in the dorsal root ganglia (DRGs) in pigs. On day 3 of the estrous cycle, the ovaries of both the control and experimental gilts were injected with retrograde tracer Fast Blue. From day 4 of the estrous cycle to the expected day 20 of the second studied cycle, the experimental gilts were injected with testosterone, while the control gilts received oil. After the completion of the protocol the Th16-L5 DRGs were collected. Injections of testosterone
increased the testosterone (~3.5 fold) and estradiol-17β (~1.6 fold) levels in the peripheral blood, and reduced the following in the DRGs: the total number of the Fast Blue-positive perikarya, the population of perikarya in the L2-L4 ganglia, and the numbers of SP+/CGRP+, SP+/PACAP+, SP+/nNOS+
and SP-/nNOS+ perikarya. In thetestosterone-injected gilts, the populations of SP+/CGRP-, small and large androgen receptors-expressing perikarya were increased. These results suggest that elevated androgen levels during pathological states may regulate the transmission of sensory modalities from the ovary to the spinal cord, and antidromic regulation of the ovarian functions.