Effects of Cimicifuga racemosa extracts on estrogen responsive genes in rat pituitary gland in vitro and in vivo

2005 ◽  
Vol 113 (S 1) ◽  
Author(s):  
J Wober ◽  
M Krumbholz ◽  
G Vollmer
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 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


1975 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 469-476 ◽  
Author(s):  
WH Fletcher ◽  
NC Anderson ◽  
JW Everett

The concept of "stimulus-secretion coupling" suggested by Douglas and co-workers to explain the events related to monamine discharge by the adrenal medulla (5, 7) may be applied to other endocrine tissues, such as adrenal cortex (36), pancreatic islets (4), and magnocellular hypothalamic neurons (6), which exhibit a similar ion-dependent process of hormone elaboration. In addition, they share another feature, that of joining neighbor cells via membrane junctions (12, 26, and Fletcher, unpublished observation). Given this, and the reports that hormone secretion by the pars distalis also involves a secretagogue-induced decrease in membrane bioelectric potential accompanied by a rise in cellular [Ca++] (27, 34, 41), it was appropriate to test the possibility that cells of the anterior pituitary gland are united by junctions.


2007 ◽  
Vol 292 (1) ◽  
pp. R637-R643 ◽  
Author(s):  
Willis K. Samson ◽  
Meghan M. White ◽  
Christopher Price ◽  
Alastair V. Ferguson

Derived from the same prohormone, obestatin has been reported to exert effects on food intake that oppose those of ghrelin. The obestatin receptor GPR39 is present in brain and pituitary gland. Since the gene encoding those two peptides is expressed also in those tissues, we examined further the possible actions of obestatin in vivo and in vitro. Intracerebroventricular administration of obestatin inhibited water drinking in ad libitum-fed and -watered rats, and in food-and water-deprived animals. The effects on water drinking preceded and were more pronounced than any effect on food intake, and did not appear to be the result of altered locomotor/behavioral activity. In addition, obestatin inhibited ANG II-induced water drinking in animals provided free access to water and food. Current-clamp recordings from cultured, subfornical organ neurons revealed significant effects of the peptide on membrane potential, suggesting this as a potential site of action. In pituitary cell cultures, log molar concentrations of obestatin ranging from 1.0 pM to 100 nM failed to alter basal growth hormone (GH) secretion. In addition, 100 nM obestatin failed to interfere with the stimulation of GH secretion by GH-releasing hormone or ghrelin and did not alter the inhibition by somatostatin in vitro. We conclude that obestatin does not act in pituitary gland to regulate GH secretion but may act in brain to alter thirst mechanisms. Importantly, in rats the effects of obestatin on food intake may be secondary to an action of the peptide to inhibit water drinking.


2016 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 463-475 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonia A. Ronchetti ◽  
María S. Bianchi ◽  
Beatriz H. Duvilanski ◽  
Jimena P. Cabilla

Inorganic arsenic (iAs) is at the top of toxic metalloids. Inorganic arsenic-contaminated water consumption is one of the greatest environmental health threats worldwide. Human iAs exposure has been associated with cancers of several organs, neurological disorders, and reproductive problems. Nevertheless, there are no reports describing how iAs affects the anterior pituitary gland. The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanisms involved in iAs-mediated anterior pituitary toxicity both in vivo and in vitro. We showed that iAs administration (from 5 to 100 ppm) to male rats through drinking water increased messenger RNA expression of several oxidative stress-responsive genes in the anterior pituitary gland. Serum prolactin levels diminished, whereas luteinizing hormone (LH) levels were only affected at the higher dose tested. In anterior pituitary cells in culture, 25 µmol/L iAs significantly decreased prolactin release in a time-dependent fashion, whereas LH levels remained unaltered. Cell viability was significantly reduced mainly by apoptosis evidenced by morphological and phosphatidylserine externalization studies. This process is characterized by early depolarization of mitochondrial membrane potential and increased levels of reactive oxygen species. Expression of some key oxidative stress-responsive genes, such as heme oxygenase-1 and metallothionein-1, was also stimulated by iAs exposure. The antioxidant N-acetyl cysteine prevented iAs-induced effects on the expression of oxidative stress markers, prolactin release, and apoptosis. In summary, the present work demonstrates for the first time that iAs reduces prolactin release both in vivo and in vitro and induces apoptosis in anterior pituitary cells, possibly resulting from imbalanced cellular redox status.


1990 ◽  
Vol 127 (3) ◽  
pp. 417-425 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Harvey ◽  
J. S. Baidwan ◽  
D. Attardo

ABSTRACT Binding of 125I-labelled [Tyr1]-somatostatin (125I-[Tyr1]-SRIF) to pituitary caudal lobe membranes was suppressed in immature chickens 1 and 2 h after i.v. administration of unlabelled SRIF at concentrations of 1–100 μg/kg. In-vitro preincubation of chicken pituitary glands for 0·5–4·0 h with 0·1 μmol SRIF/l similarly reduced the binding of 125I-[Tyr1]-SRIF to caudal lobe membrane preparations. After a 4-h incubation in 0·1 mmol SRIF/l, the withdrawal of SRIF from the incubation media was accompanied 4 h later by a partial recovery in the binding of 125I-[Tyr1]-SRIF to pituitary membranes. Passive immunoneutralization of endogenous SRIF resulted in a prompt (within 1 h) and sustained (for at least 24 h) suppression of 125I-[Tyr1]-SRIF binding to pituitary membranes. The i.m. administration of cysteamine (300 mg/kg) to 12-week-old birds depleted hypothalamic SRIF stores and decreased the density of 125I-[Tyr1]-SRIF-binding sites in the caudal and cephalic lobes of the chicken pituitary gland. The reduction in SRIF content and in SRIF-binding sites occurred within 1 h of cysteamine administration and was maintained for at least 24 h. In 6-week-old birds, cysteamine (300 mg/kg) administration suppressed pituitary binding of 125I-[Tyr1]-SRIF for at least 5 days. Circulati concentrations of GH were markedly decreased 1 and 4 h after cysteamine injection, but not after 24 h. Pituitary binding sites for 125I-[Tyr1]-SRIF were not affected by pretreatment of pituitary glands for 2–12 h in vitro with thyroxine or oestradiol-17β (1 nmol/l–10 μmol/l) or with ovine GH or recombinant DNA-derived chicken GH (1–100 μg/ml in vitro and 100–1000 μg/kg in vivo). Ovine prolactin, at concentrations of 1–100 μg/ml was also without effect on 125I-[Tyr1]-SRIF binding to pituitary membranes following a 2- or 4-h incubation with pituitary glands. Pituitary binding sites for 125I-[Tyr1]-SRIF were, however, increased after a 24-h incubation with 1 μmol tri-iodothyronine (T3)/l in vitro and 4 and 24 h after the administration of T3 (100–1000 μg/kg) in vivo. Although T3 had no direct inhibitory effect on 125I-[Tyr1]-SRIF binding to pituitary membranes, binding was suppressed 1 and 2 h after the in-vivo administration of T3 at concentrations of 100–1000 μg/kg. These results therefore demonstrate homologous and heterologous regulation of SRIF-binding sites in the chicken pituitary gland. Journal of Endocrinology (1990) 127, 417–425


2002 ◽  
Vol 174 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
TM Ortiga-Carvalho ◽  
KJ Oliveira ◽  
BA Soares ◽  
CC Pazos-Moura

Leptin has been shown to stimulate the hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid axis in fasting rodents; however, its role in thyroid axis regulation under physiological conditions is still under investigation. Here it was investigated in freely fed rats whether leptin modulates thyrotroph function in vivo and whether leptin has direct pituitary effects on TSH release. Since leptin is produced in the pituitary, the possibility was also investigated that leptin may be a local regulator of TSH release. TSH was measured by specific RIA. Freely fed adult rats 2 h after being injected with a single s.c. injection of 8 microg leptin/100 g body weight showed a 2-fold increase in serum TSH (P<0.05). Hemi-pituitary explants incubated with 10(-9) and 10(-7) M leptin for 2 h showed a reduced TSH release of 40 and 50% respectively (P<0.05). Conversely, incubation of hemi-pituitary explants with antiserum against leptin, aiming to block the action of locally produced leptin, resulted in higher TSH release (45%, P<0.05). In conclusion, also in the fed state, leptin has an acute stimulatory effect on TSH release in vivo, acting probably at the hypothalamus. However, the direct pituitary effect of leptin is inhibitory and data also provide evidence that in the rat pituitary leptin may act as an autocrine/paracrine inhibitor of TSH release.


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