Aggressive behavior in female hamsters: the hormonal basis for fluctuations in female aggressiveness correlated with estrous state.

The frequency and sequencing of aggressive behaviors by naive female hamsters change during series of brief encounters, probably because of the lack of stable dominance relations. Such initial encounters seem most representative of interactions likely in free-ranging hamsters and have been emphasized in studies of the hormonal mediation of female aggression. Nonestrous females exhibit intense aggression toward conspecifics of either sex. Estrous females are not aggressive and spend much time in lordosis, indicative of sexual receptivity. The inhibition of fighting on estrous day depends on estrogen and progesterone. Whereas oil-injected adrenalectomized-ovariectomized females fight at high levels, comparable with intact nonestrous females, the combination of 17 beta-estradiol benzoate and progeterone suppresses fighting completely. In contrast, replacement of estradiol, progesterone, or testosterone propionate individually has on consistent effect. Hypophysectomized females also fight at high levels, indicating that pituitary hormones are not required for vigorous aggression. Further, individual anterior pituitary hormones did not produce marked changes in fighting. These results emphasize the roles of estrogen and progesterone in synchronizing aggression with current reproductive state.