RFamide-related peptides (RFRPs) are orthologous to gonadotropin-inhibitory hormone (GnIH) and play an important role in seasonal reproduction,but the effect of RFRPs on reproduction is species-dependent.The striped hamster (Cricetulus barabensis) is a typical seasonally breeding animal,showing highest reproductive activity in spring and autumn,lower activity in summer and no activity in winter.In this study,we analyzed the differential expression of RFRP-3 in the striped hamster in different seasons to determine the effect of RFRP-3 on seasonal reproduction.The results show that,in the hypothalamus,female striped hamsters have significantly higher expression levels of RFRP-3 in summer than in other seasons (P< 0.05) ,while male striped hamsters have significantly higher expression levels of RFRP-3 in winter than in other seasons (P<0.05) .These results were largely consistent with the inhibitory function of RFRP-3 on reproduction.No significant difference on expression levels of RFRP-3 in the hypothalamus were observed between spring and autumn (P>0.05) ,but significant differences were observed between summer and winter (P<0.05) ,which suggests that the expression level of RFRP-3 in the hypothalamus is consistent with the level of reproductive activity.The results suggest that RFRP-3 has an inhibitory effect on reproduction of the striped hamster and that the expression level of RFRP-3 in the hypothalamus is seasonally dependent.