Abstract
Following olfactory bulbectomy (BULBX), ovariectomized female rats show enhanced behavioral sensitivity to estradiol benzoate (EB) as measured by an index of sexual receptivity, lordosis responding. We have proposed previously that alterations in EB sensitivity which also are produced by septal destruction reflect disruptions of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) inhibitory feedback on dopamine (DA) cell bodies in the midbrain, which may be inhibitory to the expression of lordosis. Since the olfactory system as well as the septum receives mesolimbic DA projections, in the present study we examined the effects of EB given to bulbectomized and sham-operated rats on tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) activity in the olfactory tubercle (OT), nucleus accumbens septi and corpus striatum. Glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) activity was measured in the ventral tegmental region (VTR) and the substantia nigra (SN). Rats received 2 μg EB/day for 3 days and were tested on Day 4 in a 20 mount behavioral test. Ten bulbectomized rats demonstrating enhanced behavioral sensitivity to EB and all sham-operated rats (N = 10) were selected for further study. Five rats in each group received 0.05 ml oil/day X 3 (BULBX-oil, SHAM-oil), and five received 2 μg EB/day X 3 (BULBX-EB, SHAM-EB). Rats were sacrificed on Day 4. Subsequent assays revealed a bulbectomy-dependent decrease in TH activity in the striatum, and a lesion plus EB-dependent decrease in TH activity in the OT. GAD activity was slightly but significantly suppressed in the VTR in the SHAM-EB group relative to that in the SHAM-oil group. Rats of the BULBX-EB group failed to exhibit decreased GAD activity. Thus, bulbectomy may result in enhanced behavioral sensitivity to EB due to disruptions in GABA-DA interactions, which are similar to those observed following septal destruction and which result in diminished behaviorally inhibitory DA tone.
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