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Natural Variations in Maternal Care Are Associated with Estrogen Receptor Expression and Estrogen Sensitivity in the Medial Preoptic Area

Developmental Neuroendocrinology Laboratory, Douglas Hospital Research Centre, McGill University, Montreal, Canada H4H 1R3

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Michael J. Meaney, Douglas Hospital Research Centre, 6875 LaSalle Boulevard, Montreal, Canada H4H 1R3. E-mail: michael.meaney{at}mcgill.ca.

Abstract

Lactating rats exhibit stable individual differences in pup licking/grooming (LG) over the first week postpartum. Such naturally occurring variations in maternal behavior are associated with differences in estrogen-inducible oxytocin receptors in the medial preoptic area (MPOA) of the hypothalamus. We compared levels of ER and ERß mRNA in the MPOA of lactating High or Low LG mothers as well as in their nonlactating, female offspring, which inherit the maternal phenotype of their mothers. Among lactating females, High LG females exhibited significantly elevated levels of ER mRNA compared with Low LG females. Likewise, the adult, virgin female offspring of High LG mothers showed higher levels of ER mRNA in the MPOA compared with those of Low LG mothers. There were no group differences in levels of ERß mRNA. Differences in ER protein expression in the MPOA were confirmed using Western blot analysis. To further characterize the effects of estrogen in the MPOA, cFos immunoreactivity was compared in ovariectomized, adult offspring of High and Low LG dams treated with estradiol or oil. Increased cFos activity in the anterior ventral nucleus of the MPOA was observed in estradiol-treated High LG, but not Low LG females. These findings suggest that natural variations in maternal care are associated with differences in ER expression in the MPOA and that such differences are transmitted from the mother to her female offspring.

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