Interactions of testosterone with the olfactory system in the display of mounting behavior in the female rat.
Adult ovariectomized female rats received a testosterone propionate (TP) silastic implant (day 0) and were subsequently tested for mounting behavior. The number of females displaying mounting behavior increased from day 2 (0%) to day 14 (94%) following testosterone implantation. Olfactory bulbectomy (OB) performed on day -7 or on day +14 reduced the number of females that mounted on day +16 as compared to sham counterparts. However, the number of females displaying mounting behavior was significantly higher when OB was performed on day +14 than on day -7. Peripheral anosmia induced by ZnSO4 instillation, either with multiple instillations beginning on day -8 before TP implant or with a single injection on day +14, equally impaired mounting behavior on day +16. These results, which further confirm the role of the olfactory system in facilitating the display of mounting behavior in the female rat, suggest an olfaction-testosterone interaction.
Boehm
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N
Institute of Histology, Faculty of Medicine, Strasbourg, France.
Lazarus
C
C
Aron
C
C
D000818:Animals; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003307:Copulation / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D009297:Nasal Mucosa / Q000294:innervation; D009830:Olfactory Bulb / Q000187:drug effects*; D009832:Olfactory Nerve / Q000187:drug effects; D009833:Olfactory Pathways / Q000187:drug effects*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects*; D012903:Smell / Q000187:drug effects*; D013739:Testosterone / Q000494:pharmacology*
D013739:Testosterone