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Testosterone effects on staining density and autoradiographic investigations of the alpha 2-adrenergic receptor in the medial preoptic nucleus of the Japanese quail: relationship to the activation of reproductive behavior.

The effects of gonadectomy combined or not with testosterone (T) therapy on the sexual behavior, cloacal gland area, staining density and alpha 2-adrenergic receptors in the medial preoptic nucleus (POM) were studied in male and female Japanese quail. In castrated males, T increased the cloacal gland size and activated copulatory behavior. In agreement with previous reports, these effects were sexually differentiated: under the influence of T, cloacal gland growth was smaller and this treatment did not activate masculine sexual behavior in females. The optical density of the medial preoptic nucleus stained with thionein blue (Nissl stain) was decreased by castration and increased by T in both males and females. This suggests that T has a profound effect on the synthesis of proteins in the POM and, since POM is a critical site in the activation by T of masculine sexual behavior, these induced proteins are, in all probability, a part of the causal chain of biochemical events giving rise to copulatory behavior. The treatment with T had, by contrast, no clear effect on the number of binding sites and on the affinity of the alpha 2-adrenergic receptors in the POM. Therefore, if the noradrenergic transmission is involved in the induction by T of copulatory behavior, it is probably acting either through the alteration of another adrenergic receptor subtype or through the modulation of the baseline levels or turnover of the transmitter itself.

Animals

[Comparison of reproductive behavior of farm animals].

Male farm animals accept female conspecifics as partners for mating only when they have been imprinted on them. The mating behaviour of the male can be divided into three phases: a) looking for female conspecifics in heat; b) testing the readiness to be served; and c) serving. The male animal can accelerate the development of the heat characteristics by certain behaviour patterns, which cause an effect of pheromones. There is a relationship between duration of the coitus and the sexual potency in every species. Finally masturbation is discussed. Ethologically it is a typical vacuum activity.

Agriculture

[Social-hygienic characteristics of adolescent girls and assessment of their reproductive behavior].

As a result of sociological study conducted among teen-age girls--pupils of schools, technical schools and vocational schools the level of knowledge of the general facts about the relationship between sexes and methods of contraception was found. A large proportion of girls who have had sexual intercourse at this age was identified, their contraceptive culture was low. The main reasons for their reluctance to seek care at women's consultation centres were determined. The establishment of anonymous service for the teen-agers was suggested to improve the present form of gynaecological care for the teen-agers.

Adolescent

[Health needs of adolescent girls in the area of reproductive behavior].

Most users (64.1%) of the Counseling Unit for the Young are unmarried girls aged 17 to 24, predominantly students and secondary pupils. Although more frequent in older girls (21-24 years old), pregnancy is highly undesirable both in younger (22.2%) and older (57.1%) ones. Since they are most often nulliparae, the underlying health problems are significant. The girls are considered to be pregnant before their coming to the Counselling Unit, because afterwards 83.0% of them start using contraceptives. The health service for adolescents is encountered with two tasks: (1) to get adolescent girls coming to the Counselling Unit before they experience pregnancy in a negative sense, and (2) to observe and analyse the efficacy and side-effects of contraceptives.

Adolescent

Behavioral and reproductive differences in mice as a function of inbreeding.

Twenty brother-sister pairs of mice were randomly selected from a genetically heterogeneous population of mice to begin a schedule of inbreeding that lasted for six generations (F = 0 to F = .732). We examined a number of indices of reproductive behavior and found that all declined as a function of inbreeding. Specifically, there was a consistent decline in the number of fertile matings, in the number of offspring that survived to weaning, and in the weight of the pups at the time of weaning (21 days of age). We also examined a number of behaviors with the following results: there was a systematic increase in the number of trials required to learn an active avoidance task and a consistent decrease in the number of trials required to extinguish this habit. We observed a statistically significant difference in the retention of a passive avoidance habit, but these results were quite variable and not consistent across generations of inbreeding. Finally, we observed that inbreeding had little effect on measures of locomotor behavior.

Animals

Genetically heterogeneous and selected lines of rats: behavioral and reproductive comparison.

Avoidance learning, open-field, and reproductive behaviors of a genetically heterogeneous stock (derived from a four-way cross of selected lines) were compared with the corresponding behaviors of the parental lines. The heterogeneous stock showed heterosis on the body development, fertility rate, litter size at birth and at weaning, and directional dominance on the avoidance learning and open-field measures.

Animals

Isolation and characterization of opioid peptides in the avian brain.

Neuropeptides are supposed to be implicated in the regulation of hormone as well as nonhormone dependent behavioral processes in birds. Previous immunohistochemical studies have suggested that in birds opioid pentapeptides, Met- and Leu-enkephalins, may be present in the brain including the regions that regulate sex hormone dependent behaviors, such as reproductive behaviors. To determine biochemically the presence of opioid peptides in the avian brain, a study was conducted to isolate these peptides from Japanese quails and zebra finches. Acetic acid extracts of the quail and finch brains were respectively forced through disposable C-18 reversed-phase cartridges, and then the retained material was subjected to the cation-exchange and reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) purifications. All of the purified substances showed a single peak on the reversed-phase HPLC and these substances enhanced spontaneous contractions of the avian rectum. The purified bioactive substances were further subjected to amino acid sequence analysis and were characterized as peptides with the following sequences: Tyr-Gly-Gly-Phe-Met, Tyr-Gly-Gly-Phe-Leu, and Tyr-Gly-Gly-Phe-Met-Arg-Phe. These three peptides were identical with opioid pentapeptides, Met- and Leu-enkephalins, and a heptapeptide, Met-enkephalin-Arg6-Phe7, which had been previously isolated from mammalian species. This is the first direct demonstration of the presence of opioid peptides in the avian brain and confirms previous immunohistochemical findings suggesting a functional role for the opioid peptide in neural mechanisms of avian reproductive behavior.

Amino Acid Sequence

Somatic, behavioral, and reproductive disturbances in mice following neonatal administration of sodium L-aspartate.

Sodium L-aspartate (ASP) was administered to neonatal mice according to an increasing dose schedule from Days 2--11 after birth. Adult ASP-treated animals showed large increases in body weight over controls along with stunted body length. The ASP group also showed decreases in locomotor and exploratory behavior. Reproductive dysfunction occurred in both female and male ASP-treated animals. Among treated animals, females had fewer pregnancies and smaller litters while males showed reduced fertility. Evidence of multiple endocrine dysfunction in ASP-treated animals was reflected by decreased pituitary, thyroid, ovaries and tested weights, along with delayed onset of puberty in females. These results demonstrate that sodium L-aspartate produces a syndrome similar to that seen following the administration of monosodium L-glutamate.

Animals

The neural basis of motivated behavior.

A complete motivated or goal-oriented behavioral act can be viewed as consisting of initiation, procurement, and consummatory phases. In order to gain some insight into the organizing principles of neural circuitry that underlies the expression of motivated behavior, certain basic pathways thought to play an important role in two specific classes of such behavior, hypovolemic thirst and reproductive behavior, are reviewed. In both cases, humoral factors participate in the initiation phase, and their sites of action have been rather clearly defined. Circuitry underlying the procurement phase, which involves foraging behavior, is much more complex, but can be thought of as involving two fundamentally different systems, one concerned with the processing of specific sensory information and the production of refined motor responses, and the other concerned with modulating behavioral state. The former is associated primarily with the thalamocortical-lateral forebrain system whereas the latter is associated primarily with the medial forebrain system. Finally, evidence favoring the hypothesis that "biochemical switching" may take place in fixed neuroanatomical circuitry associated with ingestive and reproductive behaviors is reviewed.

Angiotensin II

[Sex behavior and reproduction of farm animals].

The sexual behaviour of farm animals was followed up both at loose-pasture raising and under industrial conditions. It was studied in estrus, in the search for a sexual partner, with regard to the tolerance of the female animals for the males in the sexual act, with regard to the herd hierarchy, the intraspecies relationships, and the condition of dominance, aggressiveness, and subordination. The role is stated of the presence of male animals in the herd for the regular course of the sexual cycle, and the shortening and synchronization of the estrus. Discussed is also the importance of the artificial visual, sound, olfactory, tactile and other stimuli of the behaviour of the male breeding animals in substantiating the coitus and the proper semen production. It was found that the reproductive process is largely dependent on on the sexual reactions of the animals, which requires a proper knowledge with regard to the substantiation of each sexual cycle. Thus, it is stated, higher conception and fertility rates are to be expected. It was also established that under the conditions of industrial technologies of raising the number of behavioural reactions in their use was strongly reduced because of the lowered contact between the individual groups, while the practice of artificial insemination thoroughly rules out the contact between the male and female animals.

Animals