Elsevier

Hormones and Behavior

Volume 11, Issue 3, December 1978, Pages 304-309
Hormones and Behavior

Male copulatory behavior triggers nightly prolactin surges resulting in successful pregnancy in rats

https://doi.org/10.1016/0018-506X(78)90034-XGet rights and content

Abstract

A positive correlation between the number of preejaculatory intromissions that a female receives during copulation and the probability of successful pregnancy has been demonstrated previously. In the present investigation the nocturnal secretion of prolactin (PRL) was followed for 4 days after mating in female rats receiving either 3–5 intromissions before ejaculation (low intromission group) or 15–18 intromissions (high intromission group). Nightly PRL surges occurred in most of the females (912) in the high intromission group and the same 9 females became pregnant. Only 29 females in the low intromission group exhibited nightly PRL surges and again only these 2 females became pregnant. This study demonstrates that the stimulation which the female receives from multiple intromissions during mating is effective in setting off nightly PRL surges. We propose that the so-called pregnancy-inducing neuroendocrine reflex which is triggered in this manner is expressed in a characteristic pattern of nightly surges of prolactin, the hormone known to be essential for the activation of the corpora lutea and their secretion of progesterone.

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Supported by grants from NIH (NS01162) and the Ford Foundation.

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Present address: Department of Zoology, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel.

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