Dopamine and sexual behaviour in female rats. Effects of dopamine receptor agonists and sulpiride.
The effects of dopamine (DA) agonists apomorphine, ET495, CB154 and Lergotril on the sexual receptivity of ovariectomized, oestrogen-treated rats was studied. In low doses all drugs caused a marked increase in receptivity, but as the dose increased the facilitatory effects disappeared; indeed, the highest doses of each drug inhibited oestrogen/progesterone-induced receptivity. We suggest the explanation for these effects to be selective presynaptic DA receptor stimulation by the agonists at low doses while, at high doses, postsynaptic DA receptor stimulation is the dominant effect. Consistent with this view was the fact that sulpiride, a putative presynaptic DA receptor blocker, prevented the effects of low but not high doses of the agonists. These data support the concept of an inhibitory role for DA neurones in the control of sexual receptivity.
Everitt
B J
BJ
Department of Anatomy, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3DY, Great Britain; Department of Histology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Fuxe
K
K