Response to melatonin in brain areas implicated in the sexual cycle of the rat

In the sexual cycle control of the female rats, the amygdala, hypothalamus and septal area, nervous structures of the limbic system as well as the posterior cortex (latero-occipital), play an important role. The pineal gland is closely related to the gonadal function via its hormone melatonin. Based on this theory, we have studied the effect of melatonin in female rats on oxidative metabolism during the estrus and diestrus phases of the sexual cycle of the aforementioned structures and of the anterior cortex (latero-frontal), which is considered to be a control tissue of sexual activity, and also on the ovary. It was observed that melatonin administered by intraperitoneal injection or produced by the body itself by stimulation of the pineal gland due to blindness, produces an inhibiting effect on the mentioned nervous structures which is also manifest in the ovary, decreasing oxidative metabolism.