Medial preoptic area, estrogen, and the peripubertal desensitization to the negative estrogen feedback in female rats.

Bilateral lesions placed in the medial preoptic area (MPOA) markedly diminished the luteinizing hormone-(LH-) and follicle-stimulating hormone- (FSH-) inhibiting effects of s.c. injected or intrahypothalamically implanted estradiol benzoate (EB) in ovariectomized immature rats. Desensitization to the negative estrogen feedback was also recorded in immature rats implanted into the MPOA with a mixture of 1 part EB and 240 or 360 parts cholesterol. Estrogen implants located in the hypothalamic ventromedial-arcuate region were ineffective in this regard. Whereas precocious puberty resulted from the implantation of EB into the MPOA, a delay of puberty onset was induced by medial preoptic implants of the antiestrogen clomiphene citrate which also enhanced the LH-suppressing effect of s.c. administered EB in prepubertal females. It is proposed that an increase of the estrogen concentration in the MPOA inactivates medial preoptic neurons that exert a restraining influence on tonic LH (and FSH) secretion by sensitizing the mediobasal hypothalamus to the negative feedback action of estrogen. This mechanism may be involved in the control of the onset of puberty in female rats.