Fig. 1

Prenatal levonorgestrel exposure suppresses ERβ expression and its target genes in the amygdala in male offspring (10 weeks old) and has less of an effect in females. Three-month-old pregnant dams were exposed to LNG (20 μg levonorgestrel), EE (10 μg ethinyl estradiol), LNG/EE (20 μg LNG and 10 μg EE combination), or VEH (vehicle, 5% ethanol in organic sesame oil) by subcutaneous daily injection of 0.1 ml for 21 days until pup delivery. Both male and female offspring were sacrificed at 10 weeks of age to isolate the amygdala for further analysis. mRNA levels in the amygdala for genes of a ERβ, b SOD2, and c ERRα, n = 5. d The representative pictures of protein levels of male offspring by western blotting. e Protein expression quantitation for d, n = 5. f The representative pictures for protein levels of female offspring by western blotting. g Protein expression quantitation for f, n = 5. h SOD2 activities for both male and female offspring in the amygdala, n = 6. *P < 0.05 vs. VEH group; P < 0.05 vs. LNG group. Results are expressed as mean ± SEM