Effect of gonadectomy on brain homovanillic acid levels

The effect produced by gonadectomy on homovanillic acid (HVA) levels in three regions of male and female rat brain during the postnatal period has been studied. In all areas, the HVA levels rise in gonadectomized rats when they are compared with the controls in the first period, but later these levels decrease with respect to the control rats. When female rats were 60 days old there were differences between gonadectomized and controls; these differences were not found in male rats.