Chronic irisin exposure decreases sexual incentive motivation in female rats

• Published in: Physiology & behavior Vol. 232; p. 113341
• Main Authors: Ulker, Nazife, Yardimci, Ahmet, Coban, Eda, Ozcan, Mete, Canpolat, Sinan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01-04-2021
• Subjects: Active investigation; Female rat; Hormones; Irisin; Sexual desire; Sexual incentive motivation; Irisin; Active investigation; Hormones; Sexual desire; Female rat; Sexual incentive motivation
• ISSN: 0031-9384; 1873-507X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2021.113341

•Chronic irisin exposure decreased the preference of female rats for the male.•The sexual interest of female rats to males was reduced by chronic irisin exposure.•Chronic irisin exposure altered serum testosterone, estradiol, and progesterone levels in female rats.•Decreased sexual incentive motivation may be related to disturbances in reproductive hormones in chronically irisin-treated female rats.•Chronic irisin exposure did not modify serum kisspeptin-1 levels in female rats.
Irisin is a novel myokine/adipokine that is released into the circulation in response to types of exercise and increases energy expenditure. Disorders in the endocrine system related to reproduction, which occur due to the chronic or excessive exercise, cause a decrease in women's sexual desire. However, the role of irisin hormone on sexual desire in women has not been elucidated. We hypothesized that chronic irisin exposure would decrease sexual incentive motivation for male partners by affecting the endocrine system in female rats. We tested this by quantifying and comparing of both sexual incentive motivation and active investigation for sexual partner, and also changes in the serum hormone levels in chronically irisin-treated female rats. As a result, chronic irisin exposure decreased the time spent near the male rat, male preference ratio, and male investigation preference ratio. Furthermore, serum testosterone and progesterone levels significantly decreased and estradiol levels increased while kisspeptin-1 levels were not changed by chronic irisin exposure in female rats. These data indicate that chronic irisin exposure may cause low sexual incentive motivation for opposite-sex partners in female rats via changes in reproductive hormones. The results suggest that irisin hormone may play a role in decreased sexual desire due to long-term exercise in women.