Dopamine release in the medial preoptic area of female rats in response to hormonal manipulation and sexual activity.

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Abstract

Dopamine (DA) is responsive to hormonal manipulations and has been implicated in the regulation of female rat sexual behavior. In the present studies, extracellular DA levels were assessed in the medial preoptic area (MPOA) of ovariectomized female rats in response to exogenous ovarian hormones and during sexual activity. In female rats primed with a low dose of estradiol benzoate (2 microg), but not with a higher dose (20 microg), a 500-microg progesterone injection increased extracellular DA and facilitated copulatory behavior. Extracellular DA levels in the MPOA were further augmented during sexual interactions with a male rat in a nonpacing copulatory chamber by either perineal or vaginal stimulation. However, in a pacing chamber, DA efflux did not increase, although the metabolites rose significantly during copulation. Together, these findings suggest that extracellular DA in the MPOA responds to the hormonal state of the female rat and may contribute to her expression of sexual behavior.

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Sexual attractivity, proceptivity, and receptivity in female mammals.

Frank Beach (1976)

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Solicitation behavior in the estrous female rat: a review.

Robert M. Erskine (1989)

Data are reviewed concerning the display of solicitation behaviors in the estrous female rat, including precopulatory hopping, darting, and ear wiggling, and the pacing of copulatory contacts through patterns of approach toward and withdrawal from a sexually active male rat. Observations made under semi-natural and laboratory conditions suggest that solicitation behaviors determine the types and amounts of coital stimuli received by the female. Solicitation behaviors as regulators of cervical-vaginal stimulation play a primary role in ensuring the activation of the neuroendocrine reflex are responsible for prolongation of ovarian corpora luteal function. Despite solicitation behaviors' importance for reproductive success, few studies have examined the neural and endocrine mechanisms involved in the display of those aspects of solicitation behavior which influence the patterning of coital stimuli received by the female. The present review suggests that two elements of pacing behavior, the ability to discriminate between varying intensities of coital stimulation and the active patterning of approach/withdrawal which controls receipt of that stimulation, are constituent parts of solicitation behaviors readily amenable to experimental investigation.

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Direct effect of 17 beta-estradiol on striatum: sex differences in dopamine release.

Stéphanie J E Becker (1989)

The nigrostriatal dopamine (DA) system is sexually dimorphic. In female but not male rats, striatal DA activity is modulated by gonadal steroid hormones. Ovariectomy (OVX) decreases striatal DA release and turnover. Estrogen replacement restores the response to that of the intact female in estrus. In contrast, castration (CAST) of male rats has no effect on the stimulated release of DA from striatal tissue. This report addresses the question: Does estrogen act directly on the striatum to induce changes in DA release? Physiological concentrations of 17 beta-estradiol and other steroids or a nonsteroidal estrogen analog were applied directly to striatal tissue maintained in an in vitro superfusion system. The effect of hormonal treatments on the responsiveness of striatal DA terminals to stimulation was examined in tissue from OVX females and intact and CAST male rats. The results are summarized as follows: (1) Infusion of 17 beta-estradiol (p less than 0.01) and diethylstilbestrol (p less than 0.05) increased amphetamine (AMPH)-stimulated striatal DA release from striatal tissue of OVX female rats compared with the effect of cholesterol. 17 alpha-Estradiol also tended to potentiate the striatal DA response to AMPH, but this result was not statistically significant (p less than 0.062). 17 beta-Estradiol had no effect on AMPH-stimulated DA release from striatal tissue of intact male rats. (2) The KCl-stimulated release of DA from striatal tissue of OVX rats exposed in vitro to 100 pg/ml 17 beta-estradiol (a physiological dose) was significantly greater (p less than 0.05) than the response after exposure to vehicle.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)