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Inhibition of the Reproductive System in Immature Rats by Intracerebral Implantation of Cortisol
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1971
Year
FertilityFemale Reproductive FunctionReproductive BiologyCrystalline Cortisol AcetatePituitary GlandNeuroendocrine MechanismPublic HealthIntracerebral ImplantationReproductive SystemCortisol ImplantsInfertilityStress HormoneEndocrine MechanismImmature RatsNervous SystemEndocrinologyMedial Basal HypothalamusDevelopmental BiologyNeuroanatomyPhysiologyNeuroscienceCentral Nervous SystemMedicineReproductive Hormone
Implantation of crystalline cortisol acetate in the medial basal hypothalamus (MBH), apart from inhibiting pituitary adrenal responses, had a profound suppressive effect on the reproductive system of the immature (30-day-old) rat autopsied 3 weeks after implantation. The development of testes, seminal vesicles, and prostates through the period of puberty was effectively prevented, and spermiogenesis was absent. In the female, estrous cycling was absent, ovarian and uterine development was prevented, and ovulation did not occur. Adrenalectomy in nonimplanted animals had none of these effects. ACTH in doses producing slight to marked adrenal hypertrophy did not influence the changes produced by cortisol implants. It is concluded that cortisol has a direct suppressive effect on gonadottopin secretion at the hypothalamo-pituitary level.