A POTENTIAL MECHANISM OF SLOWED PUBERTAL MATURATION AFTER CHRONIC ADMINISTRATION OF SODIUM VALPROIC ACID

Sodium valproic acid (VPA) occasionally delays pubertal maturation in children and gonadal and skeletal growth in juvenile, seizure-prone, i nbred DBA/2J mice. Fourteen-day-old mice received either VPA or contro l solution, and the medial preoptic area (mPOA) of the hypothalamus wa s studied after 4, 7, 10, 14, or 18 days by immunocytochemically proce ssing for gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH). Significant differenc es were found for the proportion of bipolar to unipolar neurons in the mPOA. VPA may slow pubertal maturation by altering neurochemical syst ems that normally play an important role in timing maturation of the G nRH pulse generator.