No abstract

Background: Gonadal steroids, in particular 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and 17 betaestradiol (E2), have been shown to feed back on the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis of the ranid frog. However, questions still remain on how DHT and E2 impact two of the less-studied components of the ranid HPG axis, the hypothalamus and the gonad, and if the feedback effects are consistently negative. Thus, the goal of the study was to examine the effects of DHT and E2 upon the HPG axis of the gonadally-intact, sexually mature male leopard frogs, Rana pipiens.