Serotonin 1A receptors and sexual behavior in male rats: A review

Abstract

Serotonin plays an important role in male sexual behavior. Many studies have been performed on the pivotal role of 5-HT₁A receptors in sexual behavior. Overall, 5-HT₁A receptors do not appear to be involved under normal circumstances, but become very important under conditions of elevated serotonin levels in sexual behavior. 5-HT₁A receptor agonists facilitate ejaculatory behavior in male rats, while inhibiting copulatory behavior. Three different phases can be distinguished in rats' sexual cycle, the introductory (precopulatory), the copulatory and the executive (ejaculatory) phases. Different mechanisms and brain regions are involved in these phases. The mechanisms, brain regions and the possible involvement of 5-HT and 5-HT₁A receptors in the appropriate phases in male rat sexual behavior will be discussed in the current review.

The Sexual Motivation of Male Rats as a Tool in Animal Models of Human Health Disorders

“…Similar effects were observed after BNST lesion (Valcourt and Sachs, 1979). Strong reductions in intromission number were observed after serotonin 5HT1A receptor agonist (Snoeren et al, 2014) and D2 agonist and, less effectively, D1 agonist, but not D4 agonists (Cagiano et al, 1989;Beck et al, 2002;Sanna et al, 2015).…”

Neurochemical and behavioural effects of hypidone hydrochloride (YL‐0919): a novel combined selective 5‐HT reuptake inhibitor and partial 5‐HT1A agonist

“…In studies in both humans and animals, increased 5‐HT levels (e.g. after SSRI treatment) have been demonstrated to inhibit sexual function (Snoeren et al, ,b). In addition, preclinical studies have indicated that 5‐HT 1A receptor agonists facilitate sexual performance in male rats (Giuliano and Clement, ; Waldinger, ).…”

Prenatal Hypoxia Ischemia Increases Male Rat Sexual Behavior

“…Central regulation of sexual behavior is complex and involves various neurotransmitter systems and/or neuropeptides [26,28,29,[33][34][35]37,38,[40][41][42][43][44][45]. It has been established that central dopamine is a key neurotransmitter in the control of sexual function [26,28,29,37,38,[40][41][42].…”