RESUMO
In brief: The SCN regulates ovulation by stimulating the preovulatory surge of gonadotropins. This study revealed an additional role in the sensitization of the hypothalamus to estradiol that changes along the estrous cycle and the side of the nucleus. Abstract: Ovulation is timed by neural signals originating at the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) that trigger ovulation when converge with high estradiol levels, which indicates the maturation of ovarian follicles. We have shown that the hypothalamic regulation of ovulation is asymmetrical and we hypothesized that the paired SCN could contribute to such symmetries. We unilaterally lesioned the SCN of rats at each stage of the estrous cycle and evaluated the acute effects on the progression of their estrous cycle, follicular development and ovulation. Lesions prevented progression of the estrous cycle when performed in estrus/metestrus but not in diestrus/proestrus. Abnormalities in follicular development were observed in the nonovulating lesioned rats and this was independent of the side of the SCN destroyed and the stage of the cycle when surgery was performed. Groups of lesioned rats were then hormonally primed with GnRH or estradiol to assess the neuroendocrine pathway altered by the treatment. GnRH restored ovulation, suggesting that both SCN are needed for proper triggering of the preovulatory surge of GnRH and that unilateral lesion does not impair the sensitivity of the pituitary or the ovary to GnRH and gonadotropins, respectively. With regard to restoring ovulation, estradiol was asymmetrically effective in rats lesioned in estrous, partially effective in rats operated at diestrus and ineffective in rats at metestrus. Our results indicate that the SCN regulates the activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis not only by modulating the preovulatory surge of GnRH/gonadotropins but also by promoting the hypothalamic integration of estrogenic signals from the ovaries in an asymmetric and stage-dependent fashion.