Effect of medial preoptic oestradiol implants on hypothalamic beta-endorphin concentration.

Twenty-four-day-old immature and cyclic female rats in metoestrus were ovariectomized and bilaterally implanted with oestradiol benzoate (OB) and cholesterol at a ratio of 1:360 or with cholesterol alone in the medial preoptic area (MPOA), or, for control, the hypothalamic dorsomedial nucleus. Estimation of beta-endorphin immunoreactivity in the ventromedial-arcuate-median eminence region at 6 and 3 days after implantation, respectively, revealed a significantly higher concentration in rats implanted with OB in the MPOA as compared to those implanted with cholesterol. OB implants placed in the dorsomedial nuclei were ineffective in this regard. The hypothesis is put forward that inhibition of hypothalamic beta-endorphin release as probably resulting from the implantation of OB in the MPOA may be related to desensitization of the negative oestrogen feedback that is induced by similar preoptic oestrogen implantation.