EVIDENCE THAT THE HYPOTHALAMUS IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ANDROGEN-INDUCED STERILITY IN THE FEMALE RAT¹

Evidence is presented which suggests that prepubertal androgen treatment deleteriously alters the function of the “ovulation controlling” preoptic area of the hypothalamus.

Abstract

The data presented in the current study suggest that the sterility which ensues from androgen treatment of prepubertal female rats is not the result of malfunction of the adenohypophysis. Rather, the pituitaries of such animals will respond to electrical stimulation of the hypothalamus by discharging sufficient gonadotropin to cause ovulation. It is further suggested from these experiments that there are two regions within the hypothalamus which control adenohypophyseal gonadotropin secretion: (a) a region responsible for activating the cyclic discharge of ovulating hormone: the anterior preoptic (suprachiasmatic) area of the hypothalamus, and (b) a region independently responsible for the tonic discharge of luteinizing hormone in a sufficient quantity to cause estrogen secretion but not ovulation: the arcuate-ventromedial nuclei complex of the median eminence. Evidence is presented which suggests that prepubertal androgen treatment deleteriously alters the function of the “ovulation controlling” preoptic region of the hypothalamus.