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Hormonal Activation of Female Sexual Behavior is Accompanied by Hypothalamic Norepinephrine Release
Author(s) -
Vathy Ilona,
Etgen Anne M.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
journal of neuroendocrinology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.062
H-Index - 116
eISSN - 1365-2826
pISSN - 0953-8194
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2826.1989.tb00133.x
Subject(s) - medicine , endocrinology , lordosis behavior , norepinephrine , microdialysis , hypothalamus , estrogen , estradiol benzoate , lordosis , estrous cycle , catecholamine , ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus , ovariectomized rat , dopamine , radiography , radiology
The present study employed the intracranial microdialysis technique to measure norepinephrine release in the ventrolateral dendritic fields of the ventromedial hypothalamus of freely‐moving animals before and during ovarian steroid (estradiol and progesterone) activation of female sexual behavior (lordosis). One day after implantation of a dialysis probe, animals were injected with 3 μg of estradiol benzoate followed 44 h later by 200 μg of progesterone. Introduction of a male rat 4 h after progesterone treatment was correlated with dramatic increases in extracellular norepinephrine levels measured in dialysates of the ventrolateral ventromedial hypothalamus of female rats which displayed high levels of lordosis behavior. In contrast, female rats given the same steroid treatment but which did not show lordosis responses did not have elevated norepinephrine levels in their dialysates. Moreover, animals that received an estrogen antagonist concurrently with the estrogen treatment had neither an increase in ventromedial hypothalamic levels of norepinephrine during behavior testing nor did they display lordosis. These results indicate a close relationship among ovarian steroids, noradrenergic transmission in the ventromedial hypothalamus, and the expression of female sexual behavior.