Neonatal administration of androstenedione, testosterone or testosterone propionate: effects on ovulation, sexual receptivity and aggressive behavior in female mice.

Abstract

Abstract Neonatal female mice were exogenously administered either androstenedione (AD), testosterone (T), or testosterone propionate (TP) on Days 1, 2 and 3 after birth. Control females were given oil neonatally. As adults, all females were ovariectomized and scored for the presence or absence of ovulation. All females were then given estrogen and progesterone and tested for sexual receptivity. All females were then administered TP and were tested for aggressive behavior. Females given either TP, T or AD neonatally were, for the most part, anovulatory. Following administration of estrogen and progesterone in adulthood, females given either TP, T or AD neonatally showed little or no sexual receptivity. Following androgen stimulation in adulthood, females given either TP or T neonatally showed significantly more aggression than females given only oil neonatally. These results support the hypothesis that testosterone, or one of its metabolites, is the defeminizing agent in the neonatal male mouse. Analyses of quantitative and qualitative differences in the defeminizing effectiveness of the different steroids were also discussed.