Concentrations of corticosterone and luteinizing hormone in plasma during the ovulatory cycle of the domestic hen and after the administration of gonadal steroids.

Plasma concentrations of corticosterone and LH were measured in hens in relation to the ovulation of an egg either early or late in a sequence and also in hens injected with gonadal steroids. In hens about to ovulate an egg early in the sequence, the plasma concentration of LH rose at the onset of darkness while levels of corticosterone remained low. As levels of LH fell during the 4 h preceding ovulation, those of corticosterone increased steeply to reach a maximum at about the time of ovulation, which is shortly after dawn. In contrast, in hens about to ovulate an egg late in a sequence, the concentration of LH in plasma fell and that of corticosterone tended to increase during the hours of darkness. During the 7 h preceding ovulation the temporal relationship of LH to corticosterone was similar to that observed before an early ovulation such that levels of corticosterone increased rapidly on the descending slope of the preovulatory LH surge and reached maximum values at the time of oviposition and ovulation. Infections of oestradiol benzoate and testosterone propionate did not alter plasma concentrations of either corticosterone or LH. On the other hand, the injection of progesterone was associated with a rapid fall in levels of corticosterone. It is suggested that progesterone may suppress the pituitary-adrenal system and thus modulate the pattern of corticosterone secretion during the ovulatory cycle.