DOPAMINERGIC REVERSAL OF THE DECLINE AFTER CASTRATION OF RAT COPULATORY BEHAVIOUR
Author:
- C. O. MalmnäsCMC. O. Malmnäs
- 1 April 1977
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Bioscientifica in Journal of Endocrinology
- Vol. 73 (1) , 187-188
Abstract
Department of Medical Pharmacology, University of Uppsala, Box 573, Uppsala, Sweden (Received 11 October 1976) Copulatory behaviour in the male rat declines after castration, an effect readily reversed by testosterone (Stone, 1939; Beach & Holz-Tucker, 1949; Malmnäs, 1973). Testosterone probably activates copulatory behaviour in the castrated rat by direct action on the central nervous system (Davidson, 1966; Lisk, 1967). In castrated rats supplied with small doses of testosterone, insufficient to restore copulation in more than a fraction of the total number of animals, the number of animals initiating copulation is increased by treatment with neuropharmacological agents which facilitate dopaminergic neurotransmission (Malmnäs & Meyerson, 1972; Malmnäs, 1973, 1976). Is testosterone required for dopaminergic activation of copulatory behaviour? Apomorphine is a drug which stimulates dopamine receptors (Andén, Rubenson, Fuxe & Hökfelt, 1967; Ernst, 1967). In the present study, the possible capacity of apomorphine to reverse the decline in male rat copulatory behaviourKeywords
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