Androgens are specifically implicated in female rat sexual motivation. The influence of methyltrienelone (R1881) on sexual orientation.

The present experiment was designed to investigate whether androgens are specifically involved in the induction of a male-directed orientation in adult female rats. Ovariectomized female rats were either treated with the non-aromatizable androgen methyltrienelone (R1881), with testosterone propionate (TP), with estradiol benzoate (EB) or with an equal volume of the solvent. Sexual orientation of these females towards either sexually active males or estrous females was then investigated and related to levels of receptive and mounting behavior. Compared to the solvent-treated females, females treated with R1881, TP or EB spent more time near sexually active males. Mounting behavior was stimulated in the R1881- and TP-treated females, but EB-treated females mounted as often as females treated with the solvent only. Lordosis behavior was only observed in TP-treated or EB-treated females. Mount frequency of the females of the different treatment groups was positively correlated with time spent near males. These correlations reached statistical significance in the TP-treated and EB-treated females. In the TP-treated females, the lordosis quotient was negatively correlated with time spent near males. The results of the present experiment suggest that androgens need not be converted into estrogens in order to facilitate a male-directed orientation in ovariectomized female rats.