Stimulation of Female Sex Behavior in Adrenalectomized Rats with Estrogen Alone

Abstract

Apparently normal sex behavior was produced in spayed rats by daily injections of 0.8 or 3.2μg estradiol benzoate. Adrenalectomy had no deleterious effect on this behavior. Uterine weight data suggested that the lower dose produced circulating estrogen levels within or below those occurring in physiological conditions. Since,in the combined ovariectomized-adrenalectomized females, all known sources of steroid hormones were removed, it is concluded that the expression of sexual receptivity in female rats does not require the presence of progesterone or adrenal androgens. (Endocrinology82: 193, 1968)