Sexual behavior in the ovariectomized rabbit after treatment with different amounts of gonadal hormones

• Published in: Hormones and behavior Vol. 1; no. 2; pp. 161 - 172
• Main Authors: McDonald, P.G, Vidal, N, Beyer, C
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 1970
• ISSN: 0018-506X; 1095-6867
• DOI: 10.1016/0018-506X(70)90010-3

Lordosis and mounting behavior were studied in 13 groups of ovariectomized New Zealand white rabbits receiving diverse treatments with gonadal hormones. Single estradiol benzoate (EB) injections of 10, 100, and 300 Mg induced lordosis in 72, 57, and 100% of the subjects (Ss), respectively. There was no effect of dose level on the latency to lordosis. By contrast, 300 Mg EB produced a significantly longer duration of lordosis behavior than 10 or 100 μg. All doses of EB induced mounting, but when compared to lordosis behavior, a smaller proportion of the Ss responded, and a longer latency and shorter duration occurred at each dose level. Multiple injections of 0.5 or 1.0 μg EB twice daily induced lordosis with a short latency in nearly all Ss (average: 48.9 hr and 30.3 hr, respectively). Mounting was also induced in some of these Ss but it appeared later (0.5-μg dose, 106 hr; 1.0-μg dose, 58 hr). Single injections of 2.5, 5, and 15 mg of testosterone propionate (TP) elicited lordosis in two of five, four of five, and 0 of five Ss respectively. Mounting occurred in two, one, and none of the Ss after 2, 5, and 15 mg, respectively. The duration of lordosis (range 10–34 hr) and mounting behavior (10.5 hr) was very short. Twice-daily injections of 0.25, 0.5, and 1.0 mg of TP induced lordosis and mounting in the majority of Ss. There was no significant difference in the latency to lordosis between the diverse doses. Conversely, the latency of mounting increased with increasing dose.