The neonatal treatment with clomipramine decreases sexual motivation and increases estrogen receptors expression in the septum of male rats: Effects of the apomorphine

Administering clomipramine during the early days of life induced several behavioral and neurochemical alterations in adult male rats, which resemble major depression disorder. The alterations included poor sexual performance, which is considered a reward-seeking behavior regulated by dopaminergic system. Given that estrogen receptors are expressed in different areas of the brain involved in regulating reproductive behavior, motivation and mood. The objective of this study was to analyze the effect of a non-selective dopamine agonist (apomorphine) on sexual incentive motivation in rats exposed to clomipramine (CMI) in the neonatal period. In addition, we evaluated the expression of mRNA ERα and ERβ in nucleus accumbens (NAcc) and septum of CMI rats. We found that only a few rats subjected to neonatal CMI treatment performed mounts, intromissions and ejaculations. Also, those rats spent less time exploring the sexual incentive zone and had lower preference scores; this effect was reverted by administering 0.1 mg/kg of apomorphine. Finally, the CMI rats presented higher levels of mRNA ERα and ERβ, only in septum area. These data indicate that neonatal treatment with CMI altered the expression of mRNA ERα and ERβ in the septum, which participates in regulating the motivational component of sexual behavior.