Fig. 2

SPS affects males and females differently in sham gonadectomized rats. a SPS enhanced acoustic startle response (ASR) only in males. While females showed significant increases in ASR in the post-test compared to baseline, this effect was not specific to SPS exposure as it is for males. Control males showed a habituation to the acoustic stimulus in the post-test compared to baseline. b SPS enhanced negative feedback control of the HPA axis only in males. Note that while DEX completely blocked the increase in CORT levels induced by acute restraint stress in SPS-exposed males, it did not block this increase in SPS-exposed females, nor did DEX block this increase in control males and females. SPS did increase baseline CORT levels in females but had no effect on baseline CORT in males. DEX drove baseline CORT levels to near zero in all four groups, confirming its efficacy in both sexes. c SPS increased glucocorticoid receptor (GR) expression in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN) in males, while the decrease in GR expression in SPS females fell short of significance (P = .056). Control females had more GR+ PVN neurons than control males. Representative photomicrograph is shown with the right PVN outlined and GR+ neurons visible with dark staining. d SPS affected social interaction and e sucrose preference only in females, significantly decreasing their latency to approach a novel conspecific and preference for sucrose. Control females also took longer than control males to approach a novel rat. Data was presented as mean ±SEM. Significance set at P < .05 (*) for planned pairwise comparisons (Bonferroni). See Additional file 3 for full statistics