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Sexual Function in Adult Male Rats after Prenatal Modulation of the Cholinergic System

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Prenatal administration of the n-cholinolytic ganglerone to pregnant female rats at different periods of gestation was found to lead to long-term changes in sexual behavior in pubescent offspring: there was a reduced dynamic of acquiring sexual experience and a very low level of sexual activity, with significant impairment to the motivational and ejaculatory components of sexual behavior. The number of males with reduced sexual activity in the experimental groups was significantly greater than that in control offspring. The results obtained here provide evidence that impairments of sexual function in adult offspring induced by prenatal administration of the n-cholinolytic ganglerone at 9–11 and 12–14 days of gestation and, to a lesser extent, the m-cholinolytic metamyzil at 9–11 days of gestation, were due to impairment to the central mechanisms regulating sexual function due to stable changes in neurotransmitter activity in the hippocampus and hypothalamus, along with a significant reduction in the blood testosterone level.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. I. P. Pavlov St. Petersburg State Medical University, 6/8 L. Tolstoy Square, 197022, St. Petersburg, Russia

    A. A. Bairamov

  2. A. M. Nikiforov All-Russia Center for Emergency and Radiation Medicine, Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, St. Petersburg, Russia

    S. N. Proshin

  3. Institute of Experimental Medicine, 12 Academician Pavlov Street, 197376, St. Petersburg, Russia

    A. O. Poletaeva, O. M. Efremov & N. S. Sapronov

Authors
  1. A. A. Bairamov
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  2. A. O. Poletaeva
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  3. S. N. Proshin
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  4. O. M. Efremov
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  5. N. S. Sapronov
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Correspondence to A. A. Bairamov.

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Translated from Rossiiskii Fiziologicheskii Zhurnal imeni I. M. Sechenova, Vol. 94, No. 5, pp. 581–591, May, 2008.

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Bairamov, A.A., Poletaeva, A.O., Proshin, S.N. et al. Sexual Function in Adult Male Rats after Prenatal Modulation of the Cholinergic System. Neurosci Behav Physi 39, 463–470 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11055-009-9156-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11055-009-9156-0

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