Abstract
Summary
Ergocornine (EC), an inhibitor of prolactin release, was injected daily into normal cycling rats for 1 or 3 estrous cycles. EC produced significant increases in weight of the ovaries and in number of corpora lutea (CL) as compared to the ovaries of control rats. These effects were more marked in rats injected for 3 cycles than in rats injected for 1 cycle. Injection of 1 mg of ovine prolactin in EC-treated rats on the day of proestrus or on the days of proestrus and estrus completely prevented any increases in ovarian weight and number of CL. It is suggested that the normal rise in blood prolactin on the day of proestrus and continuing into estrus serves to induce luteolysis of the previous crop of CL formed during each cycle.
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