Psychosomatic Medicine 30:696-709 (1968)
© 1968 American Psychosomatic Society

Urinary Estrone, Estradiol, and Estriol Responses to 72-Hr. Avoidance Sessions in the Monkey

¹ Departments of Neuroendocrinology and Experimental Psychology, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D. C.

Urinary estrone, estradiol and estriol all show a similar biphasic response to 72-hr. conditioned avoidance sessions in the monkey, characterized by a decline in levels during avoidance, usually followed by a rebound elevation in the recovery period.

The duration of the two response phases, the primary depression and the secondary elevation, may vary from one experiment to the next, particularly in relation to repetition of the stressful experience or to individual differences between animals. This phenomenon raised special problems in the statistical analysis of the data.

In a few experiments, an acute rise in estrogen levels occurred during avoidance and this appeared to be closely related to similar exceptional changes in urinary volume and aldosterone levels in these instances.

Repetition of avoidance sessions was associated with a tendency for the duration of the initial depression in estrogen levels to shorten and for the rebound elevation to occur at an earlier point in the recovery period.

Some differences in estrogen responses to avoidance between individual animals were observed.

The need for the inclusion of estrogen measurements in future psychoendocrine research is discussed.