Abstract
Only recently has significant progress been made in elucidating the mechanisms of action of gonadal steroids on their peripheral target organs. It is not surprising, therefore, that the mechanisms of action of these hormones on the brain are poorly understood. In this chapter we will consider the nature of the functional interrelationships between brain and gonads, and then attempt to relate existing data on the chemical effects of these hormones on peripheral tissue or on the brain, to these functional interactions. Broad understanding can arise from a discussion of specific examples only if an overview of the entire system is available to place any example in its proper perspective. Therefore, a brief summary of the fundamental concepts of reproductive neuroendocrinology will be presented first.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
L. Martini and W. F. Ganong, eds. Neuroendocrinology, Academic Press, New York (1966).
J. Szentágothai, B. Flerkó, B. Mess, and B. Halász, “Hypothalamic control of the anterior pituitary,” Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest (1968).
J. W. Everett, Central neural control of reproductive functions of the adenohypophysis, Physiol Rev. 44:373–431 (1964).
J. W. Everett, in Major Problems in Neuroendocrinology (E. Bajusz and G. Jasmin, eds.) pp. 346–366, Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore (1964).
C. A. Barraclough, Modifications in the CNS regulation of reproduction after exposure of prepubertal rats to steroid hormones, Recent Prog. Hormone Res. 22:503–539 (1966).
R. A. Gorski, in Biology of Gestation (N. S. Assali, ed.) Vol. 1, pp. 1–66, Academic Press, New York (1968).
B. Halász and R. A. Gorski, Gonadotropinc hormone secretion in female rats after partial or total interruption of neural afferents to the medial basal hypothalamus, Endocrinology 80:608–622(1967).
C. H. Phoenix, R. W. Goy, and W. C. Young, in Neuroendocrinology (L. Martini and W. F. Ganong, eds.) Vol. 2, pp. 163–196, Academic Press, New York (1966).
R. D. Lisk, in Neuroendocrinology (L. Martini and W. F. Ganong, eds.) Vol. 2, pp. 197–239, Academic Press, New York (1966).
W. C. Young, in Sex and Internal Secretions (W. C. Young, ed.) Vol. 2, pp. 1173–1239, Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore (1961).
J. M. Davidson, in Neuroendocrinology (L. Martini and W. F. Ganong, eds.) Vol. 1, pp. 565–611, Academic Press, New York (1966).
F. A. Beach, Cerebral and hormonal control of reflexive mechanisms involved in copulatory behavior, Physiol. Rev. 47:289–316 (1967).
B. T. Donovan and J. J. Van Der Werff Ten Bosch, Physiology of Puberty, E. Arnold, Ltd., London (1965).
V. Critchlow and M. E. Bar-Sela, in Neuroendocrinology (L. Martini and W. F. Ganong, eds.) Vol. 2, pp. 101–162, Academic Press, New York (1966).
V. D. Ramirez and C. H. Sawyer, Advancement of puberty in the female rat by estrogen, Endocrinology 76:1158–1168 (1965).
G. W. Harris, Sex hormones, brain development and brain function, Endocrinology 75:627–648(1964).
R. A. Gorski, Localization and sexual differentiation of the nervous structures which regulate ovulation, J. Reprod. Fert., Suppl. 1:67–88 (1966).
R. A. Gorski, Localization of the neural control of luteinization in the feminine male rat, Anat.Rec. 157:63–69 (1967).
K. L. Grady, C. H. Phoenix, and W. C. Young, Role of the developing rat testis in differentiation of the neural tissues mediating mating behavior, J. Comp. Physiol. Psychol. 59:176–182(1965).
R. E. Whalen and D. A. Edwards, Hormonal determinants of the development of masculine and feminine behavior in male and female rats, Anat. Rec. 157:173–180 (1967).
L. G. Clemens, M. Hiroi, and R. A. Gorski, Induction and facilitation of female mating behavior in rats treated neonatally with low doses of testosterone propionate, Endocrinology 84:1430–1438(1969).
R. A. Gorski, Modification of ovulatory mechanisms by postnatal administration of estrogen to the rat, Am. J. Physiol. 205:842–844 (1963).
S. Levine and R. Mullins, Estrogen administered neonatally affects adult sexual behavior in male and female rats, Science 144:185–187 (1964).
B. Flerkó, P. Petrusz, and L. Tima, On the mechanism of sexual differentiation of the hypothalamus: Factors influencing the “critical period” of the rat, Acta Biol. Acad. Sci. Hung. 18:27–36(1967).
E. V. Jensen and H. I. Jacobson, Basic guides to the mechanism of estrogen action, Recent Prog. Hormone Res. 18:387–414 (1962).
L. Terenius, Uptake of radioactive oestradiol in some organs of immature mice, Acta Endocrinol. 50:584–596 (1965).
R. J. Wurtman, Estrogen receptor: Ambiguities in the use of this term, Science 159:1261 (1968).
H. G. Williams-Ashman, New facets of the biochemistry of steroid hormone action, Cancer Res. 25:1096–1120(1965).
A. J. Eisenfeld and J. Axelrod, Evidence for estradiol binding sites in the hypothalamus— effect of drugs, Biochem. Pharm. 16:1781–1785 (1967).
J. Kato and C. A. Villee, Preferential uptake of estradiol by the anterior hypothalamus of the rat, Endocrinology 80:567–575 (1967).
K. R. Laumas and A. Farooq, The uptake in vivo (1,2-3H)-progesterone by the brain and genital tract of the rat. J. Endocrinol. 36:95–96 (1966).
J. A. Resko, R. W. Goy, and C. H. Phoenix, Uptake and distribution of exogenous testosterone-1,2,3H in neural and genital tissues of the castrate guinea pig, Endocrinology 80:490–498(1967).
L. K. Christensen, Pituitary regulation of thyroid activity, Acta Endocrinol. 33:111–116 (1960).
J. Dobbing, The blood-brain barrier: Some recent developments, Guys Hosp. Rep. 112:267–286(1963).
S. W. Kuffler and J. G. Nicholls, The physiology of neuroglial cells, Ergebnisse Der Physiologie 57.1–90(1966).
C. J. Erickson, R. H. Bruder, B. R. Komisaruk, and D. S. Lehrman, Selective inhibition by progesterone of androgen-induced behavior in male ring doves (Streptopella risoria), Endocrinology 81:39–44(1967).
C. M. Szego, Role of histamine in mediation of hormone action, Fed. Proc. 24:1343–1352 (1965).
O. Hechter and I. D. K. Halkerstron, Effects of steroid hormones on gene regulation and cell metabolism, Ann. Rev. Physiol. 27:133–162(1965).
J. Curry and L. M. Heim, Brain myelination after neonatal administration of oestradiol, Nature (London) 209:915–916 (1966).
R. Casper, A. Vernadakis, and P. S. Timiras, Influence of estradiol and Cortisol on lipids and cerebrosides in the developing brain and spinal cord of the rat, Brain Res. 5:524–526 (1967).
L. M. Heim and P. S. Timiras, Gonad-brain relationship: Precocious brain maturation after estradiol in rats, Endocrinology 72:598–606 (1963).
A. Globus and A. B. Scheibel, The effect of visual deprivation on cortical neurons: A Golgi study, Exptl. Neur. 19:331–345 (1967).
H. Koenig, in Morphological and Biochemical Correlates of Neural Activity (M. M. Cohen and R. S. Snider, eds.) pp. 39–56, Hoeber, New York (1964).
E. Giacobini, in Morphological and Biochemical Correlates of Neural Activity (M. M. Cohen and R. S. Snider, eds.) pp. 15–38, Hoeber, New York (1964).
G. S. Gordan, R. C. Bentinck, and E. Eisenberg, The influence of steroids on cerebral metabolism, Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 54:575–607 (1951).
J. A. Moguilevsky, O. Schiaffini, and V. Foglia, Effect of castration on the oxygen uptake of different parts of hypothalamus, Life Sci. 5:447–452 (1966).
J. A. Moguilevsky, Oxidative activity of different hypothalamic areas during sexual cycle in rats, Acta Physiol. Latin Am. 15:423–424 (1965).
J. A. Moguilevsky and M. R. Malinow, Endogenous oxygen uptake of the hypothalamus in female rats, Am. J. Physiol. 206:855–857 (1964).
F. Varricchio and D. R. Sanadi, Inhibition of mitochondrial respiration by progesterone and an azasteroid, Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 121:187–193 (1967).
K. A. Doeg, Control of mitochondrial lipid biosynthesis by testosterone in male sex accessory gland tissue and liver of castrate rats, Endocrinology 82:535–539 (1968).
P. Karlson, Mechanism of Hormone Action, Academic Press, New York (1965).
T. Fujii and C. A. Villee, Effect of testosterone on ribonucleic acid metabolism in the prostate, seminal vesicle, liver and thymus of immature rats, Endocrinology 82:463–467 (1968).
R. W. Barton and S. Liao, A similarity in the effect of estrogen and androgen on the synthesis of ribonucleic acid in the cell nuclei of gonadohormone-sensitive tissues, Endocrinology 81:409–412(1968).
T. Valcana, A. Vernadakis, and P. S. Timaras, Influence of estradiol and Cortisol on electrolytes in the central nervous system of developing rats, Neuroendocrinology 2:326–329 (1967).
D. E. Wooley and P. S. Timaras, Water and electrolyte alterations in plasma, brain and liver of rats after castration and sex hormone administration, Acta Endocrinol. 46:12–24 (1964).
A. E. Fisher, in Current Trends in Psychological Theory, pp. 70–86, Univ. Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh (1961).
Y. Palka, V. D. Ramirez, and C. H. Sawyer, Distribution and biological effects of tritiated estradiol implanted in the hypothalamus-hypophysial region of female rats, Endocrinology 78:487–499(1966).
K. Fuxe, Cellular localization of monoamines in the median eminence and infundibular stem of some mammals, Z. Zellforsch. 61:710–724 (1964).
H. Kobayashi, Y. Oota, H. Vemura, and T. Hirano, Electron microscopic and pharmacological studies on the rat median eminence, Z. Zellforsch. 71:387–404 (1966).
T. Hokfelt, The possible ultrastructural identification of tubero-infundibular dopamine-containing nerve endings in the median eminence of the rat, Brain Res. 5:118–121 (1967).
F. J. E. Stefano and A. O. Donoso, Norepinephrine levels in the rat hypothalamus during the estrous cycle, Endocrinology 81:1405–1406 (1967).
F. Anton-Tay and R. J. Wurtman, Norepinephrine-turnover in rat brains after gonadectomy, Science 159:1245 (1968).
A. E. Donoso, F. J. E. Stephano, A. Biscardi, and J. Cukier, Effects of castration on hypothalamic catecholamines, Am. J. Physiol 212:737–739 (1967).
W. Lippman, R. Leonardi, J. Ball, and J. A. Coppola, Relationship between hypothalamic catecholamines and gonadatrophin secretion in rats. J. Pharm. Exp. Therap. 156:258–266 (1967).
B. J. Meyerson, Central nervous monoamines and hormone induced estrous behaviour in the spayed rat, Acta Physiol. Scand. 63 (Suppl. 241), 1–32 (1964).
K. Fuxe, T. Hökfelt, and O. Nilsson, Activity changes in the tubero-infundibular dopamine neurons of the rat during various states of the reproductive cycle, Life Sci. 6:2057–2061 (1967).
K. M. Knigge, Catecholamines of rat median eminence: Lack of response in altered hypo-thalamo-pituitary-endocrine states, Anat. Rec. 160:377 (1968).
C. H. Sawyer, Some endocrine aspects of forebrain inhibition, Brain Res. 6:48–59 (1967).
J. Hilliard, R. Penardi, and C. H. Sawyer, A functional role of 20α-hydroxypregn-4-en-3-one in the rabbit, Endocrinology 80:901–909 (1967).
Y. Arai and R. A. Gorski, Protection against the neural organizing effect of exogenous androgen in the neonatal female rat, Endocrinology 82:1005–1009 (1968).
Y. Arai and R. A. Gorski, Critical exposure time for androgenization of the developing hypothalamus in the female rat. Endocrinology 82:1010–1014 (1968).
W. Levin, R. M. Welch, and A. H. Conney, Effect of chronic phenobarbital treatment on the liver microsomal metabolism and uterotropic action of 17β-estradiol, Endocrinology 80:135–140(1967).
S. Burstein, Determination of initial rates of Cortisol 2a and 6β-hydroxylation by hepatic microsomal preparations in guinea pigs: Effect of phenobarbital in two genetic types, Endocrinology 82:547–554 (1968).
R. P. Michael, in Proc. 22nd Intern. Physiol Congr. Leiden, Vol. 1 Part 2, pp. 650–652, Exerpta Medica Foundation, Amsterdam (1962).
Y. Arai and R. A. Gorski, Effect of anti-estrogen on steroid induced sexual receptivity in ovariectomized rats, Physiol. Behav. 3:351–354 (1968).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1970 Plenum Press, New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Gorski, R.A., Clemens, L.G. (1970). Action of Gonadal Hormones. In: Lajtha, A. (eds) Control Mechanisms in the Nervous System. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-7163-6_18
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-7163-6_18
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4615-7165-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-7163-6
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive