Participation of estradiol and progesterone in the retrograde labeling of pubococcygeus motoneurons of the female rat

Retrograde labeling with horseradish peroxidase conjugated to wheat germ agglutinin showed that the pubococcygeus muscles of the female rat are innervated by a population of motoneurons located in a column approximately 2 mm in length in the central region of lamina IX of the sixth lumbar–first sacral spinal cord segments. These neurons have a dendritic distribution that projects to the lateral, medial and ventral regions of the gray matter. Values for soma size, primary dendrite length and arborization area obtained from intact animals that were in diestrous-2, were significantly reduced following ovariectomy. After hormone priming of the ovariectomized animals with estradiol benzoate and progesterone, an additional injection of estradiol benzoate alone or followed by progesterone increased the labeled length of the primary dendrites distributed to the lateral, but not to the medial or ventral regions of the gray matter in the spinal cord. However, dendritic labeling was not significantly increased when only progesterone was additionally injected. It therefore seems that pubococcygeus muscle motoneurons of the female rat are sensitive to the effects of gonadal hormones.