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Estrus behaviour in spayed rats after estrogen or progesterone treatment in combination with reserpine or tetrabenazine

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Summary

Estrus behaviour in ovariectomised rats is normally activated by progesterone after pretreatment with estrogen. It has now been found that progesterone but not estrogen can be replaced by the amine depletors reserpine and tetrabenazine.

The effect of reserpine lasted several weeks.

ACTH can only partly replace progesterone and the reserpine effect is obtained even after adrenalectomy. This indicates that reserpine does not act by inducing steroid release from the adrenals.

The results give further evidence of monoamine dependent central nervous pathways mediating heat inhibition.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacology, University of Uppsala, Sweden

    Bengt J. Meyerson

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  1. Bengt J. Meyerson
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Meyerson, B.J. Estrus behaviour in spayed rats after estrogen or progesterone treatment in combination with reserpine or tetrabenazine. Psychopharmacologia 6, 210–218 (1964). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00404011

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00404011

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