| Budget Amount *help |
¥27,170,000 (Direct Cost: ¥20,900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥6,270,000)
Fiscal Year 2015: ¥5,720,000 (Direct Cost: ¥4,400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,320,000)
Fiscal Year 2014: ¥5,460,000 (Direct Cost: ¥4,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,260,000)
Fiscal Year 2013: ¥5,330,000 (Direct Cost: ¥4,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,230,000)
Fiscal Year 2012: ¥10,660,000 (Direct Cost: ¥8,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥2,460,000)
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
We previously demonstrated that the gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP) system, located in the lumbosacral spinal cord of rats, controls spinal centers to promote penile reflexes during male copulatory behavior. The identification of a male-specific neural system regulating sexual functions offers new avenues for potential therapeutic approaches to male reproductive dysfunction. A group of oxytocin neurons situated in the parvocellular part of the paraventricular nucleus and projecting to the spinal cord controls penile reflexes. We have found that the axonal distribution of oxytocin in the lumbar spinal cord exhibits a male-dominant sexual dimorphism in rats. Furthermore, oxytocin binding and expression of the specific oxytocin receptor were both observed in the spinal GRP neurons. Thus, oxytocin efferents might regulate male sexual function through a GRP system-mediated mechanism in the spinal cord.
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