Prevention of progesterone-induced lordosis behavior by alpha or beta adrenergic antagonists in ovariectomized estrogen-primed rats.

The effect of systemic administration of adrenergic alpha (phenoxybenzamine and prazosin) and beta (propranolol) antagonists on the lordosis behavior induced by progesterone (2.0 mg/rat) was studied in ovariectomized estradiol benzoate (4.0 micrograms/rat) primed rats. The effect of these antagonists was also tested on the lordosis behavior induced in ovariectomized rats by estradiol benzoate alone (1.25 micrograms/rat each two days). Phenoxybenzamine (0.8, 4.0 and 20.0 mg/kg), propranolol (0.8, 4.0 and 20.0 mg/kg) and prazosin (0.2 and 1.0 mg/kg) caused a dose-dependent reduction of progesterone induced lordosis. By contrast, phenoxybenzamine (4.0 mg/kg), propranolol (4.0 mg/kg) or prazosin (1.0 mg/kg) did not affect estrogen induced lordosis behavior. Results suggest the following conclusions: (1) blockage of either alpha or beta adrenoreceptors prevents progesterone induced lordosis behavior and (2) the adrenergic neuron involved in progesterone facilitation of lordosis behavior is not a part of the reflex arc for lordosis but probably modulates the activity of this system.