Estrogen receptor beta and G protein-coupled estrogen receptor 1 are involved in the acute estrogenic regulation of arginine-vasopressin immunoreactive levels in the supraoptic and paraventricular hypothalamic nuclei of female rats

The ovarian hormone 17β-estradiol is known to regulate the release, expression and immunoreactivity of arginine-vasopressin (AVP) in the supraoptic and paraventricular hypothalamic nuclei of rodents. Previous studies have shown that estrogen receptor α is involved in the effects of chronic estradiol administration on arginine-vasopressin immunoreactivity in the female rat hypothalamus. In this study we have examined the effect of an acute administration of estradiol or specific agonists for estrogen receptors α, β and G protein-coupled estrogen receptor 1 on the immunoreactivity of arginine-vasopressin in the hypothalamus of adult ovariectomized female rats. Acute estradiol administration resulted in a significant decrease in the number of arginine-vasopressin immunoreactive neurons in the supraoptic and paraventricular nuclei after 24 h. The effects of the specific estrogen receptors agonists suggest that the action of estradiol on arginine-vasopressin immunoreactivity is mediated in the supraoptic nucleus by G protein-coupled estrogen receptor 1 and in the paraventricular nucleus by both estrogen receptor β and G protein-coupled estrogen receptor 1. Thus, in contrast to previous studies on the effect of chronic estrogenic treatments, the present findings suggest that estrogen receptor β and G protein-coupled estrogen receptor 1 mediate the acute effects of estradiol on arginine-vasopressin immunoreactivity in the hypothalamus of ovariectomized rats.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, España (PSI2014-57362-P).Agencia Estatal de Investigación, España (BFU2017-82754-R).Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Fragilidad y Envejecimiento Saludable (CIBERFES), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, España y Fondos FEDER.2.733 JCR (2019) Q3, 157/272 Neurosciences1.132 SJR (2019) Q2, 31/87 Developmental BiologyNo data IDR 2019UE