estradiol hormone role Increasing estradiol (E2) hormone from ovarian follicles prior to ovulation has been hypothesized to play a critical role for induction of pheromones. These pheromones render females sexually receptive to males to facilitate mating. An investigator performs experiments in sheep in which females are gonadectomized, then treated with E2 or vehicle alone and allowed to breed. What can be the hypothesis

The experiment is easy to design: Measure the concentration of the pheromones in the test sheep versus the control sheep and see what the outcome is. Further compare the reaction of the male sheep on both, control and treated sheep. Ideally you treat both animals with some kind of treatment to avoid an influence by the application method of the estradiol. Also blind the researchers to avoid their influence on the experiment. The hypothesis would be: Has estrogen E2 an influence on the pheromones in female sheep and do these pheromones influence the male sheep.