Wibowo, ErikCalich, Hannah J.Currie, R. WilliamWassersug, Richard J.2026-01-012026-01-010166-4328PubMed:25746452ORCID:/0000-0001-7541-9584/work/167651763https://hdl.handle.net/1885/733801328Androgen deprivation in males has detrimental effects on various tissues and bodily functions, some of which can be restored by estradiol (E2) administration. We investigated how the duration of androgen deprivation affects the autoregulation of estrogen receptors (ERs) levels in core brain areas associated with sexual behavior and cognition, as well as in pelvic floor muscles (PFM). We also measured c-Fos levels in brain areas associated with sexual behavior shortly after the rats mated.Prolonged castration increases ERα levels in the preoptic area (POA) and E2 treatment reverses these effects. In the POA, c-Fos levels after mating are not affected by the duration of androgen deprivation and/or E2 treatment. ERβ levels in the POA as well as c-Fos levels in the POA and the core area of nucleus accumbens correlate with the mounting frequency for E2-treated Short-Term castrates. Additionally, ERβ levels in the medial amygdala are positively correlated with the mounting frequency of Long-Term castrates that received E2 treatment. In the hippocampus, ERs are downregulated only when E2 is administered early after castration, whereas downregulation of ERα in the prefrontal cortex only occurs with delayed E2 treatment. Early, but not delayed, E2 treatment after castration increases ERβ levels in the bulbocavernosus and ERα levels in the levator ani of male rats.Our data suggest that the duration of androgen deprivation may influence the autoregulation of ERs by E2 treatment in select brain areas and pelvic floor muscles of male rats.We thank Kay Murphy for technical assistance in performing Western blot and Mark Baguma-Nibasheka for technical assistance with processing pelvic floor muscles, Kazue Semba for critical feedback on the manuscript, plus Tara Perrot and Amanda Green for advice on the micropunch technique. This research was supported by the Scotia Support Grant from the Nova Scotia Health Research Foundation , Heart and Stroke Foundation of New Brunswick , and the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada . Erik Wibowo was a recipient of a Cancer Research Training Program award from the Beatrice Hunter Cancer Research Institute in conjunction with the Canadian Cancer Society, Nova Scotia Division. The funding sources were not involved in the study design, collection, analysis and interpretation of data, writing the report or decision to submit the article for publication.8enPublisher Copyright: © 2015 Elsevier B.V.AutoregulationBrainCognitionEstrogen receptorsPelvic floor musclesSexual behavior2015-06-0110.1016/j.bbr.2015.03.00384924715676