Trends of reproductive hormones in male rats during psychosocial stress: role of glucocorticoid metabolism in behavioral dominance.

Stress in socially subordinate male rats, associated with aggressive attacks by dominant males, was studied in a group-housing context called the visible burrow system (VBS). It has been established that subordinate males have reduced serum testosterone (T) and higher corticosterone (CORT) relative to dominant and singly housed control males. The relationship of the decreased circulating T levels in subordinate males to changes in serum LH concentrations has not been evaluated previously.