Development of a sexually dimorphic projection from the bed nuclei of the stria terminalis to the anteroventral periventricular nucleus in the rat

The principal nucleus of the bed nuclei of the stria terminalis (BSTp) is larger in male rats and conveys olfactory information relevant for reproduction to the hypothalamus. In males, the BSTp provides a massive projection to the anteroventral periventricular nucleus of the preoptic region (AVPV), which in contrast to most sexually dimorphic nuclei contains more neurons in female rats. Injections of the anterograde tracer Phaseolus vulgaris leucoagglutinin into the BSTp of adult female rats failed to demonstrate the strong projection to the AVPV observed previously in males. The ontogeny of this robust sex difference was examined by using the axonal marker Dil. The projection from the BSTp to the AVPV is established between postnatal day 9 (P9) and P10 in male rats and seems to be maintained during the juvenile period. Although labeled fibers extended from the BSTp toward the preoptic region in both male and female neonates, a similar connection with the AVPV was not apparent in female rats at any of the ages studied, and the density of labeled axons in the AVPV of P10 males was 20-fold greater than that of P10 females. A projection from the BSTp to the medial preoptic nucleus was also weaker in females but was much more substantial than that to the AVPV. These findings suggest that a sex-and region-specific activity influences the development of the projection from the BSTp to the AVPV, producing a sexually dimorphic architecture in pathways that convey olfactory information to the hypothalamus.