Document Type
Article
Keywords
DHEA, androstenedione, corticosteroids, motivation, mechanisms
Abstract
The androgenic adrenal steroids dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and 4α-androstenedione (4-A) have significant biological activity, but it is unclear if the behavioral effects are unique or only reflections of the effects of testosterone (TS). Gonadally intact male Long-Evans rats were assigned to groups to receive supplements of DHEA, 4-A, TS, corticosteroid (CORT), all at 400 µg steroid/kg of body weight, or vehicle only for 5 weeks. All males were tested in a paradigm for sexual motivation that measures time and urinary marks near an inaccessible receptive female. It was found that DHEA and 4-A supplements failed to influence time near the estrous female in the same way TS supplements did, and, indeed, 5 weeks of 4-A administration reduced the time similar to the suppressive effects of CORT after 3 weeks. Further, animals treated with DHEA or 4-A left fewer urinary marks near an estrous female than TS and control groups. These results suggest that DHEA and 4-A are not merely precursors of sex hormones, and provide support for these steroids influencing the brain and behavior in a unique fashion that is dissimilar from the effects of TS on male sexual behavior.
Publication Date
August 2012
Publication Title
Behavioral Sciences
Volume
2
Issue
3
First Page
195
Last Page
206
DOI
10.3390/bs2030195
Recommended Citation
Taylor, George; Dearborn, Joshua; and Maloney, Susan, "Adrenal Steroids Uniquely Influence Sexual Motivation Behavior in Male Rats" (2012). Psychology Faculty Works. 105.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/bs2030195
Available at:
https://irl.umsl.edu/psychology-faculty/105
Repository URL
https://irl.umsl.edu/psychology-faculty/105
