title: Effect of forebrain implants of testosterone or estradiol on scent-marking and sexual behavior in male and female rabbits.
abstract: Chinning consists of rubbing the chin against an object, thereby depositing secretions from the submandibular glands. As mating, chinning is stimulated in male and female rabbits by testosterone and estradiol, respectively. To investigate the brain sites where steroids act to stimulate chinning and mating we implanted into the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) or the medial preoptic area (MPOA) of gonadectomized male and female rabbits testosterone propionate (TP; males) or estradiol benzoate (EB; females) and quantified chinning and sexual behavior. EB implants into the VMH or MPOA reliably stimulated chinning in females. Most of those implanted into the VMH and around half of the ones receiving EB into MPOA or diagonal band of Broca (DBB) showed lordosis. Chinning, but not sexual behavior, was stimulated in males by TP implants into the MPOA or DBB. Neither chinning nor mounting were reliably displayed by males following TP implants into the VMH. Results indicate that, in females, the VMH is an estrogen-sensitive brain area that stimulates both chinning and lordosis while the MPOA seems to contain subpopulations of neurons involved in either behavior. In males, androgen-sensitive neurons of the MPOA, but not the VMH, are involved in chinning stimulation but it is unclear if these areas also participate in the regulation of copulatory behavior.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación en Reproducción Animal, CINVESTAV-Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, Apdo. Postal 62, Tlaxcala, Tlax 90000, México. angelimelo@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Angel I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Melo
authors.forename: Rosario
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chirino
authors.forename: Angeles
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jiménez
authors.forename: Evelia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cuamatzi
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Beyer
authors.forename: Gabriela
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: González-Mariscal
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002680:Chin / Q000502:physiology; D004343:Drug Implants; D004958:Estradiol / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D009919:Orchiectomy / Q000662:veterinary; D010052:Ovariectomy / Q000662:veterinary; D011187:Posture / Q000502:physiology; D016548:Prosencephalon / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D011817:Rabbits; D012543:Scent Glands / Q000378:metabolism*; D012724:Sex Attractants / Q000378:metabolism; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D013739:Testosterone / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D004343:Drug Implants; D012724:Sex Attractants; D013739:Testosterone; D004958:Estradiol