Analysis of the hormonal control of female sexual behavior and the preovulatory LH surge in the ewe: roles of quantity of estradiol and duration of its presence.

Dose-response relationships have been suggested for the role of estradiol (E2) in the induction of both the LH surge and estrous behavior in the ewe. However, it is not always clear whether it is the amount of E2 or the length of time that E2 is present that is important. Furthermore, in previous studies, the intensity of sexual behavior has rarely been studied quantitatively. Our aims in this work were to analyze in more detail the effects of two injected doses of estradiol benzoate (25 or 50 micrograms) for the induction of both the LH surge and estrous behavior (experiment I) and to dissociate the roles of quantity and duration of presence of E2 as administered by implants (experiment II). Increasing the dose of E2 in both experiment I and experiment II decreased the latency to onset of both the LH surge and the receptivity. The duration of E2 presence marginally affected the latency of both responses and the duration of the LH surge. By contrast, the duration of receptivity depended largely on the duration of E2 presence (experiment II: r = 0.569, P < 0.01). This result explains the dose-duration effect mentioned previously in the literature and found in experiment I. The maximum response increased with dose in both experiment I and experiment II for receptivity and only in experiment I for the LH surge. We conclude that, at estrus, E2 acts in a similar fashion to induce receptive behavior and the LH surge but controls the maximum levels and the duration of these endocrine and behavioral responses differently.