Induction of Ovulation by Electrochemical Stimulation in Androgenized and Spontaneously Constant-Estrous Rats

Abstract

Female rats sterilized by neonatal treatment with small doses of androgen are resistant to the ovulatory action of progesterone, but they readily ovulate a small number of eggs in response to low-threshold electrochemical stimulation of the preoptic region. On the other hand, spontaneously constant-estrous rats have a high threshold to electrochemical stimulation which is lowered to the spontaneously ovulating level by treatment with progesterone.