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  • Title: Hormonal regulation of maternal behavior in rats: stimulation following treatment with ectopic pituitary grafts plus progesterone.
    Author: Bridges RS, Dunckel PT.
    Journal: Biol Reprod; 1987 Oct; 37(3):518-26. PubMed ID: 3676401.
    Abstract:
    Changes in hormone secretions during pregnancy help to stimulate the onset of maternal behavior at parturition. To date, studies have demonstrated that estradiol (E2) appears to be a necessary component in the hormonal induction of maternal behavior in rats and other mammals. In the present study, we have reevaluated the contribution of E2, progesterone (P), and hormone-secreting pituitary grafts in the rapid induction of maternal behavior by measuring the behavioral effects of exposure to various combinations of P and prolactin-secreting ectopic pituitary grafts in the absence of estrogen. Adult hypophysectomized and nonhypophysectomized nulliparous rats were ovariectomized 2-3 days (Treatment Day 1) after their arrival in our laboratory. In Experiment #1, experimental, hypophysectomized rats were implanted s.c. with 6 P-filled Silastic capsules and given 2 anterior pituitary (AP) glands that were grafted beneath the kidney capsule on Treatment Day 1. Controls were given blank implants and were sham-grafted. P-filled and blank Silastic capsules were removed on Day 11, and behavioral testing was conducted once-a-day beginning on Day 12 for eleven days. Animals treated with P-plus-pituitary grafts displayed full maternal behavior significantly faster than did controls (median latencies of 3.0 and 7.5 days, respectively). In Experiment #2, nonhypophysectomized rats were assigned to one of three treatments. On Treatment Day 1, one group of rats received 6 P-filled Silastic implants and had 2 AP glands grafted under their renal capsules. A second group of animals received 6 P capsules and was sham-grafted, while controls were given blank implants and were sham-grafted.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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