Sexual Experience Does Not Compensate for the Disruptive Effects of Zinc Sulfate—Lesioning of the Main Olfactory Epithelium on Sexual Behavior in Male Mice

• Published in: Chemical senses Vol. 31; no. 8; pp. 753 - 762
• Main Authors: Keller, Matthieu, Douhard, Quentin, Baum, Michael J., Bakker, Julie
• Format: Journal Article Web Resource
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Oxford University Press 01.10.2006; Oxford Publishing Limited (England); Oxford Univ Press
• Subjects: Animal ethology; Animals; Axons - drug effects; Axons - physiology; Behavioral psychophysiology; Biological and medical sciences; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Human health sciences; main olfactory system; Male; male mice; Mammalia; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Miscellaneous; Neurologie; Neurology; Neurosciences & behavior; Neurosciences & comportement; Olfactory Mucosa - cytology; Olfactory Mucosa - drug effects; Olfactory Mucosa - physiology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Sciences de la santé humaine; Sciences sociales & comportementales, psychologie; sexual behavior; Sexual Behavior, Animal - drug effects; Sexual Behavior, Animal - physiology; sexual experience; Social & behavioral sciences, psychology; Vertebrata; Vomeronasal Organ - cytology; Vomeronasal Organ - drug effects; Vomeronasal Organ - physiology; zinc sulfate; Zinc Sulfate - adverse effects; Zinc Sulfate - pharmacology; main olfactory system; Rodentia; Sexual behavior; Male; zinc sulfate; Olfactory system; Zinc; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Mouse; male mice; Animal; sexual experience; Acquired experience; Olfactory epithelium
• ISSN: 0379-864X; 1464-3553; 1464-3553
• DOI: 10.1093/chemse/bjl018

Recent studies point to an important role for the main olfactory epithelium (MOE) in regulating sexual behavior in male mice. We asked whether sexual experience could compensate for the disruptive effects of lesioning the MOE on sexual behavior in male mice. Male mice, which were either sexually naive or experienced, received an intranasal irrigation of either a zinc sulfate solution to destroy the MOE or saline. Sexual behavior in mating tests with an estrous female was completely abolished in zinc sulfate–treated male mice regardless of whether subjects were sexually experienced or not before the treatment. Furthermore, zinc sulfate treatment clearly disrupted olfactory investigation of both volatile and nonvolatile odors. Destruction of the MOE by zinc sulfate treatment was confirmed by a significant reduction in the expression of Fos protein in the main olfactory bulb following exposure to estrous female urine. By contrast, vomeronasal function did not seem to be affected by zinc sulfate treatment: nasal application of estrous female urine induced similar levels of Fos protein in the mitral and granule cells of the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB) of zinc sulfate– and saline-treated males. Likewise, the expression of soybean agglutinin, which stains the axons of vomeronasal organ neurons projecting to the glomerular layer of the AOB, was similar in zinc sulfate– and saline-treated male mice. These results show that the main olfactory system is essential for the expression of sexual behavior in male mice and that sexual experience does not overcome the disruptive effects of MOE lesioning on this behavior.