Taylor G T, Weiss J, Rupich R
Physiol Behav. 1987;39(4):429-33. doi: 10.1016/0031-9384(87)90368-4.
Previous research suggests that social stress in the absence of females disrupts male reproductive functioning. The presence of females often increases intermale aggression and, presumably, the probability that fighting----social stress----hyperadrenalism----reproductive disruption. Colony membership of male rats was manipulated in the present research to provoke high or low aggression and the consequent environments that were characterized as high or low socially stressful. The principle comparisons were between all-male and mixed-sex colonies. Results were that the presence of females predictably increased aggressive behavior in both high and low stress environments, yet the adrenal response was different in the two environments. When females were present, adrenal weights and circulating corticosterone levels of males increased in the low stress setting but decreased in the high stress setting. Males cohabitating with females in both environments, on the other hand, experienced elevated titers of circulating testosterone, increased activity of various androgen-sensitive tissues and greater epididymal sperm reserves. The conclusion is that the profound changes in males with sexual contact can attenuate the stress----reproductive disruption relationship.
先前的研究表明，在没有雌性的情况下，社会压力会扰乱雄性的生殖功能。雌性的存在往往会增加雄性间的攻击性，据推测，这也会增加打斗（即社会压力）、肾上腺功能亢进和生殖功能紊乱的可能性。在本研究中，对雄性大鼠的群体成员构成进行了操控，以引发高或低程度的攻击性以及随之而来的被界定为高或低社会压力的环境。主要的比较是在全雄性群体和混合性别群体之间进行的。结果显示，在高压力和低压力环境中，雌性的存在都可预见地增加了攻击性行为，但在这两种环境中肾上腺的反应有所不同。当有雌性存在时，在低压力环境下雄性的肾上腺重量和循环皮质酮水平会增加，而在高压力环境下则会降低。另一方面，在这两种环境中与雌性共同生活的雄性，其循环睾酮水平升高，各种雄激素敏感组织的活性增强，附睾精子储备也更多。结论是，有性接触的雄性所发生的深刻变化能够减弱压力与生殖功能紊乱之间的关系。
