W. Luttge, N. Hall
Jun 1, 1973
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Journal
Hormones and Behavior
Abstract
Abstract The present series of studies examined the relative effectiveness of the four naturally occurring androgens testosterone, androstenedione, dihydrotestosterone, and androstanedione to induce male sexual behavior in castrate CD-1 and Swiss-Webster (SW) mice. Testosterone treatment resulted in the display of sexual behavior in both strains, but it was clearly more effective in the SW strain in which a higher percentage of males displayed intromissions and ejaculations than in the CD-1 strain. Dihydrotestosterone had essentially no behavioral effects in the CD-1 strain, while it was only slightly less potent than testosterone in the SW strain. Although less potent than either dihydrotestosterone or testosterone, androstenedione treatment also resulted in the display of mating behavior in some of the SW males and in an even fewer number of the CD-1 males. Androstanedione treatment failed to induce mating behavior in either strain. Testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, and androstenedione were all found to stimulate moderate seminal vesicle and penile growth whereas androstanedione was only weakly effective in these somatic measures. These results were compared and contrasted with earlier findings on the androgenic control of agonistic behavior in the mouse, sexual behavior in the rat, and perinatal neural sexual differentiation in both the rat and mouse. The results from all of these studies were interpreted to support the hypothesis that different androgen metabolites are differentially effective in different target tissues and in the induction of different behaviors. It was further pointed out that these effects are both strain and species dependent.