[Assessment of the effect of sex steroids on the sexual behavior of the rat at late periods of observation].

A study was made of sexual behavior of male rats exposed to prolonged (4 months) metandrostenolone (MAS) inhalations at the level Limch spec as of the effect of methyltestosterone (MT) on sexual behavior of the progeny following drug applications to the skin of pregnant rats in a dose at the level Limac spec. Methodological approaches to the appraisal of sexual behavior of rats are described. MAS (0.01 mg/m3) did not produce any deviations in sexual behavior of males. MT (1 mg/kg) applied during pregnancy had a masculinizing effect on the progeny females, that manifested in anatomical disorders of the urogenital area, thereby giving rise to alterations in sexual behavior of the progeny females and in that of their partners--intact males. The conclusion is made about high risk of the manifestations of specific effects of sexual steroids applied to the skin in the doses approximating the Limac spec.