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At least 217 records · Page 12Linked to original sources
PubMed1978

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↗
PubMedDate not supplied

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↗
PubMed1983

[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↗
PubMed1993

The significance of the nest-building of the nine-spined stickleback, Pungitius pungitius.

The reproductive behavior of the stickleback is unique and odd, occurring inevitably with nesting. However, upon investigation, it has been found that nesting is an obstacle to hatching. The author conducted a survey in the necessity of nesting behavior in the nine-spined stickleback, Pungitius pungitius, and reached following conclusion: For Pungitius pungitius, nesting is the means of communicating to descendants settlement at a fixed area where cold water flowed bountifully and the water temperature was constant. Pungitius pungitius has evolved a behavior pattern that involves settling where water temperature is uniform, without evolving physiologically or morphologically, thereby enabling Pungitius pungitius to adapt to the changes in environment.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Estrogen-behavior correlates in the reproductive physiology and behavior of the ruffed lemur (Lemur variegatus).

The animal subjects of this study consisted of seven male-female pairs, living an open-air, off-exhibit area of the San Diego Zoo. Daily urinary estrogen levels in each of five females were measured and daily behavioral observations of the seven pairs were made. Behavioral patterns aligned by objectively determined, discrete physiologic events were analyzed to determine their temporal correlation to changes in estrogen excretion. The data indicate that approximately one-sixth of the female behaviors and one-third of the male behaviors sampled were significantly correlated to urinary estrogen levels in the females (P less than 0.05-0.005). In addition, both attractivity and receptivity were distinguishable and their component behaviors in males and females were found to be related to the estrogen profile. Proceptivity, however, was only weakly identified and its description in this sample population was ambiguous. Mating was observed to occur exclusively on 1 day, presumably the day of ovulation.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Perinatal astemizole exposure in the rat throughout gestation: long-term behavioral and anatomic effects associated with reproduction.

Astemizole (ATZ), a non-sedative antihistamine, which antagonize histamine at the level of H1 receptor, was administered daily to female Wistar rats as a 10-mg/kg dose throughout pregnancy. ATZ exposure reduced offspring body weight and delayed the pinna detachment and startle reflex without any modification of dams body weight during gestation. Long-term disruption of male reproductive behavior was seen in experimental animals, whereas female sexual behavior was not modified. In addition, no motor alterations were observed in female or males in adulthood. Testis wet weight was reduced, but no modifications were detected in vasa deferentia or seminal vesicle. We proposed that ATZ administration during pregnancy causes several effects mainly of a sexual nature by interfering either with the hormonal mechanism involved in the central nervous system masculinization or by a direct action of the drug on pups during the development.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Interactive effects of behavior and reproductive hormones on sex differences in risk for coronary heart disease.

It is well known that women in the United States, as in most industrialized countries in the world, are protected from coronary heart disease (CHD), relative to men. It is thought that this protection is by and large due to the effects of female reproductive hormones (i.e., estrogens) on lipid and lipoprotein metabolism and blood pressure, although women's relatively low rates of cigarette smoking are also thought to play a role. However, epidemiological studies that statistically adjust for sex differences in lipids, blood pressure, and smoking status cannot explain sex differences in CHD morbidity and mortality. Also, inconsistent with a simple main-effect model of reproductive hormones are data showing elevated risk of myocardial infarction and stroke among women who use oral contraceptives. Men who are prescribed estrogens have elevated risk of CHD, and case-control studies show that male CHD patients have elevated estradiol, compared to controls. This article suggests that simple main-effect models of female protection from CHD are inadequate. It argues that reproductive hormones are important determinants of protection from CHD, in interaction with behavioral characteristics. It also demonstrates that reproductive hormones can influence behavioral characteristics and that behavioral characteristics can influence the effects of reproductive hormones on CHD risk factors.

Arousal↗
PubMed1988

Methoxychlor induces estrogen-like alterations of behavior and the reproductive tract in the female rat and hamster: effects on sex behavior, running wheel activity, and uterine morphology.

The current investigation was designed to determine if the pesticide methoxychlor (M) mimicked the effects of estrogen in the brain and on behavior. Running wheel activity (RWA) and sex behaviors were evaluated in this study because the role of estrogen in the regulation of these behaviors has been thoroughly established. M exposure at 400 mg/kg/day (90% pure) induced high levels of acyclic RWA and persistent vaginal estrus in the female rats. Following ovariectomy (ovx), RWA declined precipitously in controls but remained at high levels in M-treated-ovx females. M also produced estrogen-like alterations of the uterine endometrial epithelium, the ovary, and growth after ovx. In another study, ovx female rats were dosed with M at 200 mg/kg/day and then with progesterone (P). P acts as an antiestrogen and specifically suppresses estrogen-induced RWA. P blocks the synthesis of estrogen receptors in the CNS and reproductive tract but does not lower RWA induced by nonestrogenic mechanisms. After 14 days of M administration RWA was increased fourfold over the ovx-oil-treated females. Subsequently, P injections reduced RWA levels far below those seen when the ovx-M-treated rats were injected with oil. The P-induced decline represents a 95% inhibition of the M-induced increase in RWA. Subsequently, M-treated-ovx rats and hamsters were injected with P and tested for their ability to display reproductive behaviors when paired with a stud male. Female sexual behaviors are induced by the administration of estrogen followed by progesterone. In this study the M-treated females displayed reproductive behaviors, in contrast to the oil-treated rats and hamsters. The observation that the high levels of RWA induced by methoxychlor treatment in ovx rats can be suppressed by concurrent progesterone injections demonstrates that the increase in RWA is due to the estrogenic effects of methoxychlor on the CNS. The fact that methoxychlor, followed by P injections, induces behavioral estrus in the rat and hamster extends this estrogenicity to other areas in the CNS.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

[Experimental studies on various model material. 3. Dimensional behavior and reproductive fidelity as compared to those of elastomers].

Bandless impressions of tooth stumps obtained with the model materials Begolith, Dentaloc, Tewestone, Impredur and Keramid-Cement in combination with the elastic impression materials Silcoflex, Sanal/Silcoflex, Xirux/Xirux F and Impergum were studied in relation to dimensional behavior and reproduction fidelity. With reference to these parameters as well as to the hardness and abrasive behavior of the model materials after processing at various temperatures, recommendations are made for the optimum combination of these two groups of materials in practice.

Acrylic Resins↗
PubMed1992

Evolutionary precedents for behavioral actions of oxytocin and vasopressin.

It is clear that the behavioral actions of oxytocin and vasopressin in mammals are not newly acquired, but have evolutionary antecedents. Injection studies with fish, amphibians, reptiles, and birds indicate that AVT can activate certain reproductive behaviors. The strongest evidence that AVT acts centrally to control reproductive behaviors comes from research on T. granulosa. In this amphibian, injections of AVT agonists activate courtship behaviors (amplectic clasping) in males and egg-laying behaviors in females, whereas injections of AVT antagonists inhibit the behaviors. Also, in Taricha males, AVT concentrations in specific brain areas are associated with the expression of courtship behaviors. Several conclusions about steroid-peptide interactions can be drawn, based on research with this amphibian. First, gonadal steroid hormones act to maintain the behavioral actions of AVT in both males and females. In Taricha, gonadectomy abolishes and steroid implants restore AVT-induced courtship in males and egg-laying in females. Second, gonadal steroids maintain the behavioral actions of AVT, in part, by modulating AVT receptor numbers on target neurons. In Taricha males and females, gonadectomy reduces AVT receptor concentrations (but not binding affinity) in certain brain areas (amygdala pars lateralis) and not others. Third, the type of gonadal steroid determines whether AVT elicits male-like or female-like reproductive behaviors. Ovariectomized Taricha females respond to AVT injections with egg-laying behaviors when implanted with estradiol and with male-like amplectic clasping when implanted with dihydrotestosterone. Fourth, the masculinization of AVT-induced behaviors in females most likely reflects site-specific actions of androgens on AVT-synthesizing neurons. In Taricha, AVTir concentrations in the optic tectum are sexually dimorphic (higher in males than females) and reach peak levels in males during the breeding season. Fifth, AVT content in specific brain areas increase as a function of performing the behaviors. In Taricha, AVTir concentrations in DPOA, CSF, and ventral infundibulum are higher in males that exhibit courtship behaviors than in males that do not. These conclusions illustrate how steroid-peptide interactions in the control of behaviors entail multiple neuroanatomical sites and neurochemical actions.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone and its receptors in rat brain.

Since the chemical identification of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) in 1971, significant progress has been made in understanding the mechanisms by which GnRH action is mediated in the anterior pituitary. In contrast, relatively little information is available which identifies the intracerebral sites and mechanisms of action of GnRH in the brain. Early immunohistochemical studies of GnRH distribution in the central nervous system, together with behavioral and electrophysiological experiments, suggested that GnRH functioned as a neurotransmitter and was, possibly, involved in the expression of reproductive behaviors. The subsequent identification and characterization of GnRH receptors in the brain further strengthened the view that GnRH caused specific effects in select regions of the brain known to be involved in the neuroendocrine regulation of the anterior pituitary and in the generation of reproductive behaviors. After the mouse pituitary GnRH receptor was cloned it became possible to identify brain neurons which contained the GnRH receptor mRNA. Comparison of the locations of the GnRH peptide, the GnRH receptor protein, and the neurons which contain the GnRH receptor mRNA suggests that the GnRH neuronal system itself can potentially provide a direct link between the neuroendocrine regulation of anterior pituitary function and the intracerebral regulation of reproductive behaviors; furthermore, it is possible that the GnRH neuronal system takes an active part in intracerebral feedback loop systems between the mediobasal hypothalamus and the septum-diagonal band which regulate GnRH release from the median eminence.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1995

Effects of opioid peptides on the electrical activity of preoptic and hypothalamic neurons in the quail brain.

We have recently isolated three opioid peptides, i.e., Met- and Leu-enkephalins and Met-enkephalin-Arg6-Phe7, from the avian brain. In the present study, therefore, effects of these endogenous opioid peptides on the electrical activity of preoptic and hypothalamic neurons of the adult male Japanese quail were examined using a brain slice preparation. All of the three opioid peptides inhibited the spontaneous firing activities of subsets of neurons in the preoptic area and the paraventricular nucleus in the hypothalamus. Threshold concentrations for the inhibitory action were between 10(-7) and 10(-6) M in Met- and Leu-enkephalins and approximately 10(-6) M in Met-enkephalin-Arg6-Phe7, respectively. In a few cells in these brain areas, however, Leu-enkephalin rather potentiated the spontaneous activities, resulting in an increase of firing rates or a decrease of interburst intervals. The inhibitory effect of Met-enkephalin was completely blocked by naloxone, an opioid receptor antagonist, but not affected by bicuculline, a gamma-aminobutyric acid A (GABAA) receptor antagonist. These results suggest that there are functional opiate receptors in subsets of preoptic/hypothalamic neurons and that one of their main physiological functions in these areas is an inhibition of neuronal activities. Because these brain regions are considered to be involved with the regulation of a variety of male reproductive behaviors, opioid peptides may regulate some reproductive behavior through the mechanism that provokes such an inhibition.

Action Potentials↗
PubMed1976

Effects of interactions with older males on behavior and reproductive development in first-year male red-winged blackbirds Agelaius phoeniceus.

Male red-winged blackbirds Agelaius phoeniceus in their first year normally do not establish territories or breed. To investigate the possibility that interactions with older males might inhibit reproductive development of young males, we compared the behavior of first-year males in the presence and absence of older males. For three months during the first half of the breeding season, we studied mixed- and single-age groups of three males in standardized outdoor aviaries: two groups of three first-year males (FFF groups), two groups of one older and two first-year males (AFF groups), and one group of three older males (AAA group). In all groups one male established clear dominance, invariably the older male in AFF groups. The dominant male in FFF groups displaced subordinates less frequently than did the dominant older male in AFF groups early in the season, but equally frequently later. In May the largest testies weights of males in FFF groups were significantly lower than those of dominant older males in AFF groups. First-year males in the absence of direct interactions with older males can achieve levels of aggressive behavior comparable to those of a dominant older male in similar social environments but the seasonal development of their aggressive behavior occurs later and their testes in May are smaller than dominant adults'. This delay in the seasonal development of aggressive behavior in first-year males, independent of the immediate social environment, suggests that the age-dependent territoriality of males in this species is not strongly regulated by effects of older males on the development of younger males.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1993

[Attitudes and behavior for reproductive health].

Educational interventions represent an alternative for the reproductive well-being. The objective of this investigation was to identify in a mexican community, attitudes and behaviors related to reproductive health, with the goal of implementing a specific health education program. The study population consisted of women between 12 and 44 years old, living in non-residential areas of the Delegation Miguel Hidalgo, D.F. Variables of interest were analyzed only in women with parity (n = 300). Data were collected through interview. The mean age was 31 +/- 8 years. 93.3% were married or in consensual union. 63% had elementary, junior high or prevocational studies. 89% answered that would visit the doctor before considering a pregnancy (junior high+, p < .05), 99% would seek prenatal care if they were pregnant, and 92.7% would have a hospital delivery (parity < or = 3, p < .003). 69.5% had a preconceptional visit before their last pregnancy and 89.9% received prenatal care (junior high+, p < .008). 92.5% had only hospital deliveries (< or = 30 years, p < .05, junior high+, p < .0001, primigravida p < .002, with institutionalized medical services, p < .001), 1.7% had only out-of-hospital deliveries, and 5.8% both. Agreement between attitudes and behaviors are presented. An educational program consisting of confirmation and support to positive attitudes, values and beliefs, and reinforcement to decision making, will result in a final behavior: early assistance to medical care.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Species differences in estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor-mRNA expression in the brain of sexual and unisexual whiptail lizards.

Circulating concentrations of gonadal steroid hormones and reproductive behavior in female vertebrates vary as a function of ovarian state. Steroids secreted by the ovary, specifically estrogen and progesterone, influence the expression of behaviors associated with reproduction by intracellular sex steroid receptors located in specific regions of the brain. Using in situ hybridization, we analyzed estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor messenger RNA expression in several brain regions of ovariectomized, vitellogenic, and postovulatory individuals from two species of whiptail lizards (Cnemidophorus uniparens and C. inornatus). Although these species are genetically very similar, they differ in two aspects of their reproductive biology: (i) the unisexual C. uniparens alternate between expressing female-typical and male-like pseudosexual behaviors while female C. inornatus normally express only female receptive behavior, and (ii) circulating estradiol concentrations in reproductively active female C. uniparens are approximately five-fold lower than in reproductively active female C. inornatus. We found that the regulation of sex steroid receptor gene expression was region specific, with receptor-mRNA expression being increased, unchanged, or decreased during vitellogenesis depending on the area. Furthermore, several species differences in the amount of sex steroid receptor-mRNA were found that may be relevant to the species differences in circulating estrogen concentrations and sexual behavior.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Pinealectomy blocks vernal courtship behavior in red-sided garter snakes.

Male red-sided garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis) court only on emergence from winter dormancy. The salient proximate factor responsible for the initiation of courtship behavior appears to be warm ambient temperatures subsequent to sustained exposure to cold temperatures. In the present study, autumn-captured garter snakes were pinealectomized or sham-pinealectomized 1-2 weeks prior to hibernation. After 17 weeks of maintenance in several ambient lighting and temperature conditions, all males were tested for the presence of courtship behavior. No pinealectomized animals exhibited any indications of reproductive behavior, whereas 53% of sham-pinealectomized males actively courted females. Photoperiod did not influence the prevalence of mating behavior. These results suggest that the pineal gland mediates non-photoperiodic seasonal information in the garter snake. This is the first demonstration, in any vertebrate species, that the pineal gland can directly influence reproductive behavior.

Animals↗