The regulation of male sexual behavior by the sex hormones

The article provides a review of the clinical and experimental data, both published and the author's own observations. They demonstrate that the hormone regulation of sex behaviour takes place at the central and the peripheral levels. The major role is played by androgenes, of which testosterone is the main regulator of sex appeal (libido, courtship behaviour in animals), while the most important regulator of ejaculation, in particular, of the time of ejaculation, is the non-aromatized androgene dihydrotestosterone (DHT). There is no rigid correlation between the level of sex activity and the level of androgenes, if the latter are within the normal individual and physiological range. However, both in case of hypo- and hyperendrogeny, the observations indicate depression of sexuality, though the mechanism of the depression are different. The author established the optimal levels of androgenes, which maintain the individual elements of the sexual act. The role of estrogene in regulation of the male sex appeal is not yet clear. As a rule, use of estrogenes results in depression of the male sexuality. At the same time, combination of DHT and estradiole (in laboratory and productive animals) leads to normalisation of erection and ejaculation disorders. These result is, probably, due to the central effect of estrogene, which prolongs the DHT effect and censures its accelerated penetration into cellular neuronal structures, as well as to the peripheral effect of DHT.