Adams N R
J Reprod Fertil. 1983 May;68(1):113-7. doi: 10.1530/jrf.0.0680113.
Ovariectomized ewes, 14 with permanent clover disease infertility (affected ewes) and 14 controls, were injected daily with 40 micrograms oestradiol benzoate for 12 days, and run with 2 rams fitted with marking crayons. The control ewes were mated sooner (P less than 0.05) but both groups became refractory at a similar rate. In a second experiment, 20 similar affected ewes and 19 controls were injected daily with 5 mg testosterone propionate for 31 days and observed daily for 50 min with rams. Affected ewes again were slower to show female behaviour (P less than 0.05) but faster (P less than 0.05) to show aggression against the rams and other ewes. Over the 31 days, the incidence of female sexual behaviour declined at a similar rate in affected and control ewes. When examined in individual pen tests with oestrous ewes on Day 28, affected ewes showed more male-like courting behaviour than did controls (P less than 0.05). The changes in behaviour are too slight to account for the infertility but they do support the hypothesis that phyto-oestrogens can act on the ewe by some of the pathways of sexual differentiation, even after puberty.
对14只患有永久性三叶草病不孕症的去卵巢母羊（患病母羊）和14只对照母羊，每天注射40微克苯甲酸雌二醇，持续12天，并与2只佩戴标记蜡笔的公羊放在一起。对照母羊更早交配（P<0.05），但两组以相似的速度进入不应期。在第二个实验中，对20只相似的患病母羊和19只对照母羊每天注射5毫克丙酸睾酮，持续31天，并每天与公羊一起观察50分钟。患病母羊再次表现出雌性行为较慢（P<0.05），但对公羊和其他母羊表现出攻击性更快（P<0.05）。在31天内，患病母羊和对照母羊的雌性性行为发生率以相似的速度下降。在第28天与发情母羊进行个体围栏测试时，患病母羊比对照母羊表现出更多类似雄性的求偶行为（P<0.05）。行为变化太轻微，无法解释不孕症，但它们确实支持这样一种假设，即植物雌激素即使在青春期后也可以通过一些性分化途径作用于母羊。
