Sex differences in circadian food anticipatory activity are not altered by individual manipulations of sex hormones or sex chromosome copy number in mice

Recent studies in mice have demonstrated a sexual dimorphism in circadian entrainment to scheduled feeding. On a time restricted diet, males tend to develop food anticipatory activity (FAA) sooner than females and with a higher amplitude of activity. The underlying cause of this sex difference remai...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2018-01, Vol.13 (1), p.e0191373-e0191373
Main Authors: Aguayo, Antonio, Martin, Camille S, Huddy, Timothy F, Ogawa-Okada, Maya, Adkins, Jamie L, Steele, Andrew D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
17β-Estradiol
Age
Analysis
Androgens
Biology and Life Sciences
Chromosomes
Circadian rhythm
Circadian rhythms
Copy number
Diet
Dietary restrictions
Dimorphism
Entrainment
Estradiol
Estrogens
Feeding
Females
Food
Gender aspects
Gender differences
Gene dosage
Health aspects
Hormones
Males
Medicine and Health Sciences
Mice
Mutants
Neonates
Neurosciences
Pattern formation
Rodents
Sex
Sex chromosomes
Sex differences
Sex hormones
Sexual dimorphism
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Summary:Recent studies in mice have demonstrated a sexual dimorphism in circadian entrainment to scheduled feeding. On a time restricted diet, males tend to develop food anticipatory activity (FAA) sooner than females and with a higher amplitude of activity. The underlying cause of this sex difference remains unknown. One study suggests that sex hormones, both androgens and estrogens, modulate food anticipatory activity in mice. Here we present results suggesting that the sex difference in FAA is unrelated to gonadal sex hormones. While a sex difference between males and females in FAA on a timed, calorie restricted diet was observed there were no differences between intact and gonadectomized mice in the onset or magnitude of FAA. To test other sources of the sex difference in circadian entrainment to scheduled feeding, we used sex chromosome copy number mutants, but there was no difference in FAA when comparing XX, XY-, XY-;Sry Tg, and XX;Sry Tg mice, demonstrating that gene dosage of sex chromosomes does not mediate the sex difference in FAA. Next, we masculinized female mice by treating them with 17-beta estradiol during the neonatal period; yet again, we saw no difference in FAA between control and masculinized females. Finally, we observed that there was no longer a sex difference in FAA for older mice, suggesting that the sex difference in FAA is age-dependent. Thus, our study demonstrates that singular manipulations of gonadal hormones, sex chromosomes, or developmental patterning are not able to explain the difference in FAA between young male and female mice.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0191373