Prolactin and testosterone inhibit torpor in Siberian hamsters

Female Siberian hamsters maintained in a winter photoperiod (8 h light/day) ceased to undergo daily torpor during infusion of prolactin (PRL) from osmotic minipumps; winter torpor was reinstated within 3 days of discontinuation of treatment. By contrast, PRL infusion was ineffective in suppressing daily torpor elicited by restricting food intake in female hamsters housed in a summer photoperiod (16 h light/day). Summer daily torpor was, however, completely inhibited in long-day gonadectomized male hamsters treated with testosterone (T). We suggest that the hyperprolactinemia, which in previous studies is characteristic of hamsters that sustain ablation of the suprachiasmatic nucleus, is incompatible with winter torpor. Summer torpor may be controlled by a mechanism less responsive to variations in plasma PRL concentration. Both winter and summer torpor are inhibited by exogenous T; it remains uncertain, however, whether sustained decreases in endogenous T secretion are as essential for the expression of summer as they are for winter torpor.