Naltrexone facilitation of sexual receptivity in the rat.

Naltrexone hydrochloride (3mg/kg) facilitated sexual receptivity in ovariectomized female rats given estradiol benzoate 44 hr previously. The latency of naltrexone facilitation is 3 hr, which is similar to that by progesterone. Other doses of naltrexone (1 and 5 mg/kg) were ineffective. Unlike the effect of progesterone, the facilitation of behavior by naltrexone is not blocked by the protein synthesis inhibitor anisomycin. Naltrexone facilitation was blocked by pargyline, a monoamine oxidase inhibitor.