Effect of serotonin 5-HT1A receptor agonists on sexual motivation of male mice

The effect of selective agonists of serotonin 5-HT_1A receptors on sexual arousal (its behavioral and hormonal components) in male CBA mice caused by estral females was studied. Injections of 8-OH-DPAT, flesinoxane, and ipsapirone significantly decreased the main behavioral parameter of sexual motivation (duration of the male's stay near the wall separating it from the receptive female). The activating effect of the female on the pituitary gonadal system of the male was completely blocked: the blood testosterone level did not increase. Therefore, the behavioral and hormonal components of sexual activation of males are regulated by the serotonin mechanisms alone, in which the cerebral 5-HT_1A receptors are involved. Translated fromByulleten' Eksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 127, No. 2, pp. 224–226, February, 1999