THE INFLUENCE OF HORMONAL STATE ON THE RESPONSE OF THE ISOLATED RABBIT OVIDUCT TO CATECHOLAMINES

The histochemical demonstration of adrenergic innervation in the isthmus of the rabbit oviduct (Brundin, 1965) raises the possibility that these nerves are of significance in the control of egg transport. Since the rate of egg transport may be altered by the administration of both oestrogenic and progestational substances (see Chang & Harper, 1966; Kendle & Telford, 1970), several studies have been undertaken to investigate the possible interaction between hormonal state and nervous activity. The results of one such recent study (Howe & Black, 1973) indicated that the muscular response to a- and /?-adrenoceptor stimulation was dependent on oestrogen and progesterone. The present investigation extends these observa¬ tions by using an in-vitro method to enable simultaneous recording of longi¬ tudinal and circular muscle activity under conditions of natural oestrogen and progesterone dominance. Uterine histology was also examined to enable the correlation of the results with the actual hormonal background at the time of autopsy