Sexual motivation promotes oxytocin secretion in male rats

The present study examines plasma oxytocin levels in relation to performance of copulatory behavior in male rats. The animals were divided into three groups: A) home-cage controls, B) sexually naive and C) sexually experienced. Following 15 min of sexual interactions with a sexually preceptive female, brought into estrus by sequential injections of estradiol benzoate (12.5 mu g animal(-1), -48 h) and progesterone (0.5 mg animal(-1), -6 h), the male rats were decapitated. Trunk blood was collected for preparation of plasma samples, and subsequent radioimmunoassay for oxytocin. Home-cage controls, not exposed to a sexually proceptive female, were decapitated at the same time as experimental animals. It was found that plasma oxytocin levels were significantly elevated in sexually naive rats following exposure to a sexually preceptive female, and that plasma oxytocin levels were highly correlated with intensity of copulatory performance in these animals. In addition, it was also found that plasma prolactin and glucose levels were increased, regardless of sexual experience, in comparison with home-cage controls. It is concluded that the emotional challenge, and the situation-specific demands for action, created by an encounter with a sexually preceptive female, are accompanied by an increased plasma concentration of oxytocin in sexually naive, but not sexually experienced, male rats. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Inc.