To determine if Butea superba Roxb., a traditional Thai male potency herb, has androgenic activity in 60-day-old male Wistar rats, we measured its effects on the pituitary-testicular axis and sex organs. Intact and orchidectomized adult male rats were subdivided into five groups (10 rats/group): distilled water, Butea superba (BS)-10, BS-50, BS-250, and testosterone propionate (TP). They receiv...

In the previous studies a hypothesis was developed from the results by using trivariate Weibull model that the increase in leptin concentrations during the second half of the menstrual cycle may be related to changes in the steroidal milieu during the pre ovulatory period and the luteal phase. The present study was undertaken to test this hypothesis further by examining the effect of treatment ...

LH pulse secretion changes during the menstrual cycle from a rapid regular pattern in the follicular phase to a slower and irregular pattern in the luteal phase. To determine whether the irregular LH pulse pattern in the luteal phase reflects altered GnRH secretion or altered pituitary responsiveness to GnRH, we gave low dose GnRH pulses (25 ng/kg i.v.) every 2 h or every hour for 10 or 12 d to...

Hemispheric lateralization for language production and its relationships with manual preference and manual preference strength were studied in a sample of 297 subjects, including 153 left-handers (LH). A hemispheric functional lateralization index (HFLI) for language was derived from fMRI acquired during a covert sentence generation task as compared with a covert word list recitation. The multi...

The key quantities affecting the efficiency of Lower Hybrid (LH) radiofrequency waves in driving non-inductively the toroidal current in a tokamak have been recognized by means of a linear regression analysis over all the data available for the Frascati Tokamak Upgrade. The parameter space is bounded within the following ranges: line averaged plasma density 0.29 × 1020 n̄e 1.29 × 1020 m−3, centr...

The arcuate nucleus region of the hypothalamus of twenty-eight day old female rats was subjected to either electrical stimulation (AC), direct current (DC) lesions, high frequency (HF) lesions or to sham-procedures. Gonadotrophin levels were measured at various times after treatment. At 0-30 mn after treatment a significant rise in LH level was seen in AC, DC and HF rats, which rise was signifi...

OBJECTIVE To clarify the mechanism of the suppressive effect of 2-buten-4-olide (2-B4O), an endogenous feeding suppressant, on the pulsatile secretion of luteinizing hormone (LH), by studying whether endogenous opioid peptides are involved in this suppressive effect. METHODS Using ovariectomized (ovx) rats, blood samples were taken every 6 min for 2 h after administration of 2-B4O or saline i...

Kisspeptin and its receptor GPR54 have recently been identified as key signaling partners in the neural control of fertility in animal models and humans. The gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons represent the final output neurons of the neural network controlling fertility and are suspected to be the primary locus of kisspeptin-GPR54 signaling. Using mouse models, the present study add...

The preovulatory luteinizing hormone (LH) surge results from the integration of complex interactions among gonadal steroids and hypothalamic and pituitary hormones. To evaluate changes in LH secretory dynamics that occur during the rat LH surge, we have 1) obtained frequently sampled serum LH concentration time series, 2) used both waveform-dependent and waveform-independent convolution analyse...

The mechanisms through which LH-RH antagonists suppress gonadotroph functions and LH-RH receptor (LH-RH-R) production are incompletely understood. To elucidate these mechanisms, we investigated the effects of Cetrorelix on the mRNA expression of pituitary LH-RH-R and luteinizing hormone (LH) secretion in three experimental systems with different pituitary LH-RH environments. Ovariectomy induced...