Hormone-dependent aggression in the female rat: testosterone plus estradiol implants prevent the decline in aggression following ovariectomy

Abstract

Female rats were individually housed with a sterile male for the duration of the experiment. Beginning 7 to 10 weeks after the start of cohabitation, each female was tested for aggression toward an unfamiliar female at weekly intervals for 3 weeks. Females that displayed consistent and substantial aggression were given one of the following treatments: ovariectomy followed by both testosterone and estradiol implants, ovariectomy followed by 2 empty implants, or sham ovariectomy followed by 2 empty implants. The implants were subcutaneously placed hormone-filled Silastic capsules. They were expected to produce a serum testosterone concentration of 0.5 ng/ml and an estradiol concentration of 15 pg/ml. Postoperatively, the aggression of each female continued to be assessed on a weekly basis for 3 weeks. Ovariectomized females with hormone implants displayed a level of aggression postoperatively similar to that of sham-ovariectomized females and significantly greater than that of ovariectomized females with empty implants. These results, together with others, suggest that estradiol and testosterone act together to form the hormonal foundation of hormone-dependent aggression by females cohabiting with a sterile male.