EFFECT OF 6-DEHYDRO-16-METHYLENE-HYDROCORTISONE AND DEXAMETHASONE ON THE RELEASE OF ACTH FROM RAT PITUITARY GLANDS IN VITRO

1970 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 431-436 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Berthold ◽  
A. Arimura ◽  
A. V. Schally

ABSTRACT Direct action of 6-dehydro-16-methylene-hydrocortisone (STC 407) and dexamethasone on the rat pituitary gland was investigated in vitro. CRF-induced ACTH release was suppressed after preincubation of the pituitary gland with 10 μg STC 407/ml or 1 μg dexamethasone/ml. These results suggest that both STC 407 and dexamethasone act directly on the pituitary gland.

1983 ◽  
Vol 96 (3) ◽  
pp. 395-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. W. J. Lamberts ◽  
E. G. Bons ◽  
P. Uitterlinden ◽  
W. H. Hackeng

Cyproheptadine and its metabolite desmethylcyproheptadine were shown to suppress directly the release of adrenocorticotrophin (ACTH) and β-lipotrophin/β-endorphin activity from the neurointermediate lobe of the pituitary gland incubated in vitro. Neither compound affected the release of ACTH from the anterior pituitary gland. Serotonin stimulated the release of ACTH and β-lipotrophin/β-endorphin activity from the neurointermediate lobe, but did not influence the (desmethyl)cyproheptadine-mediated inhibition of hormone release. These results indicate that serotonin and cyproheptadine affect hormone release by the neurointermediate lobe by a direct action. The effect of cyproheptadine, however, might not be exerted by a serotonin receptor.


1983 ◽  
Vol 96 (2) ◽  
pp. 347-352 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. A. Prysor-Jones ◽  
J. J. Silverlight ◽  
J. S. Jenkins

Dopamine concentration within the hypothalamus and its depletion after the administration of α-methyl-para-tyrosine were measured in young rats and compared with values obtained in aged animals with and without spontaneously occurring pituitary tumours. Old rats had significantly reduced hypothalamic dopamine concentrations and there was less depletion of dopamine compared with young animals but there were no differences between tumorous and non-tumorous animals. Hyperprolactinaemia induced in young animals caused a much greater depletion of hypothalamic dopamine than in old tumorous rats with comparable plasma prolactin concentrations. The catechol oestrogen 2-hydroxyoestradiol inhibited the release of prolactin from normal rat pituitary glands in vitro but measurement of catechol oestrogens in the hypothalamus showed no differences between young and old tumorous or non-tumorous rats. It is concluded that reduced dopamine concentration and an impaired response to hyperprolactinaemia in old rats may facilitate the growth of prolactin-secreting tumours arising in the pituitary gland.


1987 ◽  
Vol 112 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-273 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. de Koning ◽  
A. M. I. Tijssen ◽  
G. P. van Rees

ABSTRACT The effects of discontinuation and restoration of ovarian influences on the pituitary LH response to LHRH in vitro were investigated. When female rat pituitary glands taken on day 2 of dioestrus were incubated with LHRH the release of LH was low during the first hour (lag phase response) and afterwards a progressive, protein synthesis-dependent increase took place (second phase response), this being the self-priming action of LHRH. Short-term discontinuation (less than 1 day) of ovarian influences on the rat pituitary gland in vivo (ovariectomy) or in vitro (incubation in medium only) resulted in an increased LHRH-induced LH response during the lag phase. The biphasic LH response or the self-priming action of LHRH disappeared completely after long-term discontinuation of ovarian influences on the pituitary gland, LH release being at its maximum from the start of the incubation. The biphasic response was reinstated when ovaries were implanted under the kidney capsules of ovariectomized rats. Auto-implantation of an ovary into the spleen immediately after bilateral ovariectomy did not, however, prevent the disappearance of the LHRH self-priming action. Ovarian activity responsible for the presence of the low LH response during the lag phase was thus effectively removed by the liver, but inhibin-like activity suppressing serum FSH levels remained present. Silicone elastomer implants (s.c.) containing oestradiol-17β, implanted for 4 weeks, did not reverse the loss of the biphasic LH response to LHRH. It is concluded that liver-labile factors released by the ovaries keep the pituitary gland in a state of low responsiveness to LHRH. By giving a sufficiently high LHRH stimulus this inhibitory effect is neutralized and transition to a highly responsive state can be achieved. The ovarian factor(s) is not identical to inhibin or oestradiol-17β. J. Endocr. (1987) 112, 265–273


1989 ◽  
Vol 120 (5) ◽  
pp. 682-688 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Morel ◽  
J.-G. Chabot ◽  
A. Enjalbert ◽  
M. Priam ◽  
P. M. Dubois

Abstract. Classic concepts of calcitonin (CT) function have focused on the effects of CT on calcium homeostasis. More recently CT actions on brain and pituitary have been investigated. In order to evaluate the effects of CT on the anterior pituitary gland we studied the action(s) of CT in vitro and visualized endogenous CT in adult male rat pituitary gland by immunocytochemistry on ultrathin sections obtained by cryoultramicomy. In vitro study using dispersed anterior pituitary cells indicated that CT stimulated the secretion of PRL, whereas the secretion of GH, TSH and LH was not affected. CT-like immunoreactivity was observed in lactotropes only. The other pituitary cell types were not immunoreactive. In lactotropes, immunostaining was observed in the cytoplasm and in the nucleus. In the cytoplasm, CT-like immunoreactivity was visuzalized in the cytoplasmic matrix and in the secretory granules. In the nucleus, immunostaining was distributed primarly in the euchromatin, in the vincinity of heterochromatin region. CT-like immunoreactivity was also observed at the plasma membrane but was only scarce. No reaction product was found when anti-CT serum pre-incubated with CT was used. In conclusion, these results bring evidence for a direct action of CT on lactotrope regulation in vitro as well as in intact animals.


Life Sciences ◽  
1983 ◽  
Vol 32 (11) ◽  
pp. 1167-1173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven W.J. Lamberts ◽  
Emil N.W. Janssens ◽  
Ellen G. Bons ◽  
Piet Uitterlinden ◽  
Joke M. Zuiderwijk ◽  
...  

1978 ◽  
Vol 78 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
ADRIANA VIVAS ◽  
MARÍA ESTER CELIS

The release of melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH) into the medium during incubation and the pituitary tissue content of MSH were measured separately using pituitary glands collected from rats at various stages of the oestrous cycle. The MSH was measured by a biological assay using a synthetic α-MSH as standard. The release of MSH was maximal during the pro-oestrous phase and MSH content of the pituitary gland was highest during dioestrus. The influences of the tripeptide Pro-Leu-Gly-NH2, which inhibits MSH secretion in vivo, and of progesterone on the release of MSH in vitro were studied with tissue collected at various phases of the oestrous cycle. Pro-Leu-Gly-NH2 was effective in inhibiting MSH release both at pro-oestrus and oestrus but not at dioestrus. Progesterone overcame this inhibition.


1984 ◽  
Vol 106 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kunio Shiota ◽  
Keiji Yoshida ◽  
Chieko Noguchi ◽  
Ryo Nakayama

Abstract. Using dispersed and primarily cultured cells of rat pituitary glands, thyrotrophin (TSH) release by TSH-releasing hormone (TRH) and an analogue, γ - butyrolactone - γ-carbonyl - l - histidyl - l - prolinamide (DN-1417) which is more potent than TRH on central nervous system behavioural paradigms, was examined under conditions of static incubation and superfusion. Static incubations of the cells with different concentrations of DN-1417 (10−7–10−4 m) and TRH (10−10–10−6 m) resulted in a dose-related increase of TSH release and the response to both peptides, in logarithmic doses, was in parallel. The potency of DN-1417 related to TSH release was 0.14–0.26% that of TRH. Maximal TSH release induced by DN-1417 (10−5 m) was slightly but significantly greater than that by TRH (10−7 m) In the presence of 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine, the TSH response to either of the peptides was augmented, and the difference in the maximal TSH release by either peptide became insignificant, suggesting that TRH as well as DN-1417 act through the same mechanism of mediation by the cyclic nucleotides. In the superfusion study, a biphasic profile of TSH release was observed during a continuous exposure (100 min) to maximal doses of either the analogue or TRH. The biphasic release of TSH was thought to be specific to TRH action because high K+ produced a different profile of the release. These results indicate that the potency of DN-1417 in TSH release is considerably lower than that of TRH, and also suggest that the direct action of DN-1417 on TSH release is qualitatively similar to that of TRH.


1984 ◽  
Vol 101 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. P. Dupouy ◽  
A. Chatelain

ABSTRACT The in-vitro release of ACTH by fetal rat pituitary glands on days 17, 19 and 21 of pregnancy was measured using radioimmunoassay. The spontaneous release of ACTH, expressed in pg ACTH/gland per h, increased with fetal age, in correlation with the sharp rise in pituitary ACTH content. However, since pituitary ACTH content was nearly sevenfold higher at term than on day 17, while basal release of ACTH was only threefold higher, one can speculate that the spontaneous release of ACTH was proportionally greater on day 17 than on day 21 of gestation. As corticosterone, at a physiological concentration (865 nmol/l), reduced ACTH release, it was concluded that the pituitary gland was one site of the negative feedback action of the corticosteroids during fetal life. Quantities of synthetic ovine corticotrophin releasing factor (CRF) which gave concentrations of 0·3–30 nmol/l in the incubation medium induced a sharp rise in ACTH release which was log-dose dependent between 0·3 and 3 nmolCRF/1 on day 17 and between 0·3 and 30 nmolCRF/1 on days 19 and 21. The response to CRF increased with fetal age. Quantities of arginine vasopressin (AVP) which gave concentrations of 2–200 nmol/l stimulated ACTH release at all stages of gestation investigated. However, the response to AVP was much lower than that to CRF. Potentiation of CRF-induced ACTH release was not observed when whole pituitary glands from 21-day-old fetuses were incubated with AVP (20 nmol/l) + CRF (3 nmol/l). Such results were correlated with the ontogenesis of immunoreactive vasopressin- and CRF-containing fibres in the median eminence of the rat fetus, as well as with the CRF-like immunoreactivity present in adult rat pituitary portal plasma and the AVP content of the fetal rat hypophysis. J. Endocr. (1984) 101, 339–344


1984 ◽  
Vol 101 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Mena ◽  
G. Martínez-Escalera ◽  
C. Clapp ◽  
C. E. Grosvenor

ABSTRACT Adenohypophysial prolactin of lactating rats was pulse-labelled by [3H]leucine injected i.v. at the time of removal of the pups. The [3H]prolactin concentration in the pituitary gland, analysed by polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis, progressively fell as the time from labelling to removal of the pituitary gland increased from 8 to 24 h, which suggests that there was a loss of hormone as it aged within the gland. Suckling effectively provoked the depletion–transformation of total and [3H]prolactin (extracted at pH 7·2) when applied after 8 h but not when applied after either 16 or 24 h after removing the pups. In rats whose pups were removed for 8 h, suckling also depleted–transformed [3H]prolactin labelled 4 h, but not that labelled 1 h before suckling. The pituitary glands of other lactating rats were labelled with [3H]leucine injected i.v. at various times before removing the glands and incubating them in medium 199. The secretion into the medium of [3H]prolactin labelled either 4, 8, 16 or 24 h beforehand was maximal during the first 30 min then declined from 30 to 240 min of incubation. However, secretion of prolactin labelled 1 h and 10 min beforehand reached a maximum after 0·5–1 h and 2 h of incubation respectively, then remained constant during the remainder of the 4-h incubation period. The total 4-h secretion of [3H]prolactin was greatest (65% of preincubation concentration) from those glands labelled 4 h before in contrast to those labelled 10 min (15%) or 1 (38%), 8 (34%), 16 (18%) or 24 h (26%) before incubation. Taken together, these data suggest that prolactin synthesized 4 h earlier is more likely to be released in response to physiological stimuli than is more recently formed prolactin or prolactin which has remained in the pituitary gland for 16 h or longer. J. Endocr. (1984) 101, 27–32


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