Summary
Daily injections of L-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA, dopamine precursor) given 12 hour after 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP, serotonin precursor) eliminated annual testicular regression in seasonally breeding sub-tropical Palm Squirrel that undergoes seasonal changes in responsiveness to day-length and humidity. Other temporal relations (L-DOPA given 0, 4, 8, 16 and 20 hours after 5-HTP administration) decreased/delayed the rate of regression and maintained the reproductive system at intermediate level. 12-hour-relation maintained full breeding condition (maximum gonad and accessory sex organs) unlike control, which exhibited complete atrophy of primary and accessory sex organs.
It seems likely that these injections entrained the circadian serotonergic and dopaminergic oscillations and the interaction/phase relation of these two systems through their many circadian expressions (neural/hormonal) accounts for the seasonal interpretation of environmental factors. It is suggested that response in the present study is not a pharmacological effect of drugs but temporal synergism of neural acitivities affected the seasonality of reproduction as only 12-hour-relation of 5-HTP and L-DOPA maintained breeding activity during post reproductive phase of annual gonad cycle in Palm Squirrel.
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Chaturvedi, C.M., Jaiwal, R. Temporal synergism of neurotransmitter affecting drugs and seasonal reproductive responses of Indian Palm Squirrel,Funambulus pennanti . J. Neural Transmission 81, 31–40 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01245443
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01245443