Progesterone reduces the inhibitory effect of a serotonin 1B receptor agonist on lordosis behavior

Abstract

Ovariectomized Fischer inbred rats were hormonally primed with 10 μg estradiol benzoate and sesame seed oil (EO rats) or with estradiol benzoate and 500 μg progesterone (EP rats). Four to six hours after progesterone or oil, rats were pretested for sexual behavior and then infused bilaterally into the ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus with 0, 50, 100 or 200 ng of the 5-HT 1B receptor agonist, 1,4-dihydro-3-(1,2,3,6-tetrahydro-4-pyridinyl)-5H-pyrrol[3,2-bi]pyridin-5-one-dihydrochloride (CP 93129). Sexual receptivity was monitored by the lordosis to mount (L/M) ratio. EO rats showed a transient decline in lordosis behavior following infusion with the saline vehicle and this was amplified by CP 93129. There were no effects of any infusion in EP rats. These findings are discussed in terms of the possible stress effect of the intracranial infusion in EO rats and their implications for a role of 5-HT 1B receptors in the response to a mild stress.