Effects of maternal deprivation on the adrenocorticotrophic and gonadotrophic axes in the hypothalamo-pituitary unit of preweanling female sheep: The histomorphometric approach

This study was designed to investigate the histochemical effects of maternal deprivation on the adrenocorticotrophic and gonadotrophic axes in the hypothalamo-pituitary unit of preweanling lambs. Twelve-week-old female lambs were divided into either the control (lambs reared under undisturbed maternal conditions; n = 3) or the maternally deprived group (lambs separated for three days from their dams; n = 3). The corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH) and gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) in the median eminence and the adenohypophyseal adrenocorticotrophin (ACTH), gonadotrophins (LH and FSH) and mRNAs for their β-subunits were investigated using the immunohistochemistry or hybridohistochemistry. In maternally deprived lambs, the percentage of the area occupied by immunoreactive (ir)-CRH nerve terminals was lower (P < 0.05) and the percentage of the adenohypophyseal area (PAA) occupied by ir-ACTH cells was higher (P < 0.05) compared with the control lambs. In the hypothalamo-gonadotrophic axis of maternally deprived lambs the percentage of area occupied by ir-GnRH nerve terminals was higher (P < 0.05) and the PAA occupied by ir-FSHβ cells was lower (P < 0.05) in comparison with controls. The PAA occupied by gonadotrophs detected using hybridohistochemistry was higher (P < 0.05) for LHβ-mRNA in contrast to a lower (P < 0.05) percentage for FSHβ-mRNA in maternally deprived lambs compared with those staying with dams. In conclusion, maternal deprivation affected the accumulation of CRH and ACTH. The different and more striking alterations in FSH synthesis and storage in comparison with those concerning LH were observed in maternally deprived lambs. Thus, rupture of the preweanling young-mother social contact can affect the gonadotroph population activity, especially that relating to FSH-producing cells in the infantile female sheep.