Comparison of G6PD activity with a modified hormonal environment during the critical period of hypothalamic sexual differentiation in Sprague Dawley rats

The neuronal cells that make up the dysmorphic nuclei located in the hypothalamus of both female and male mammals are susceptible to the hormonal environment in which individuals find themselves during the critical period of cerebral sexual differentiation. Thus, endogenous and exogenous steroids influence the remodeling process of hypothalamic structures using apoptosis or cell proliferation processes, which are implicit in the mechanism of cerebral sexual differentiation. In this study, the enzymatic kinetics and the relative expression of G6PD mRNA and the concentration of GSH were compared to verify whether the redox state modified by the exogenous administration of synthetic hormones, such as tamoxifen in males and testosterone propionate in females, influences the apoptosis process (Bax and Bcl-2) within the mechanism of hypothalamic sexual differentiation in Sprague Dawley rats. It was observed that the G6PD activity for the F-CTR group was higher at 1 and 3 h compared to the M-TAM organisms. The F-TP group registered more significant values at 3 h compared to the M-CTR group. For the GSH concentrations, the F-CTR and M-CTR groups exhibited the highest concentrations at 12, 24, and 48 h. In the experimental groups, the GSH concentrations remained at decreased levels from the first hour to 48 h with a slight increase at 3600 h in the F-TP. In the case of the M-TAM, the GSH levels rose from hour 3 to hour 12.