FEMININE SEXUAL-BEHAVIOR IN RATS ENHANCED BY PRENATAL INHIBITION OF ANDROGEN AROMATIZATION

Male and female rats were exposed to the aromatization inhibitor 1,4,6-androstatriene-3, 17-dione (ATD) in utero via prenatal injections to the pregnant mother. In adulthood, lordosis behavior was measured in response to ovarian hormones. Males and females exposed prenatally to ATD showed enhanced lordosis behavior in response to estrogen alone and in response to estrogen plus progesterone when compared to controls. These data lend further support to the idea of a prenatal, androgen-sensitive phase of sexual differentiation in which defeminization normally occurs in both male and female rats. Further, these data support the concept that androgen aromatization is an important process in this defeminization. © 1978.