PROLACTIN ACTIVITY IN JUVENILE HYPOTHYROIDISM AND PRECOCIOUS PUBERTY

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1972 ◽  
Vol 50 (6) ◽  
pp. 881-889
Author(s):  
Gertrude Costin ◽  
Ann K. Kershnar ◽  
Maurice D. Kogut ◽  
Roger W. Turkington

Two 8-year-old girls, one of whom had Down's syndrome, presented with myxedema and precocious sexual development. Elevated circulating thyrotrophin (TSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) levels, and prolactin activities were documented. Following treatment with thyroid extract, the abnormal clinical findings and the elevated levels of pituitary hormones returned to normal. The results of studies in our patients suggest a derangement in hypothalamic pituitary regulatory mechanisms. It is postulated that low circulating thyroxine may increase the hypothalamic content of thyroid-releasing hormone (TRH) and the sensitivity of the pituitary to TRH stimulation resulting in increased release of TSH and prolactin. The elevated plasma gonadotrophins may result from a nonspecific stimulation of the hypothalamic gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (LH-FSH-RH) or from a direct stimulation by prolactin of the LH-FSH-RH.

1977 ◽  
Vol 86 (4) ◽  
pp. 728-732 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Epstein ◽  
B. Lunenfeld ◽  
Z. Kraiem

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to investigate effects of androgens on gonadotrophin release in response to gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (Gn-RH) stimulation in vitro. Hemipituitaries of mature male rats were pre-incubated for 90 min with T, DHT, 3α- or 3β-diol (4 ng or 4 μg/ml medium), and the incubation continued for 240 min after adding Gn-RH (1 ng/ml medium). Gn-RH caused a 4-5-fold rise in the secretion of LH and a 2-fold rise in FSH secretion. The effect of the androgens was dose-dependent. At low levels, T and DHT exerted no effect on Gn-RH-stimulated gonadotrophin release, whereas the two androstanediols (3α- and 3β-diol) augmented the Gn-RH stimulation of both gonadotrophins, though preferentially LH. With high doses of androgens, the results obtained showed: a) no effect of T; b) DHT suppression of the Gn-RH-stimulated FSH release; c) suppression of Gn-RH stimulation by 3α- and 3β-diol regarding both LH and FSH. It is concluded that T exerts through its reduced metabolites a feedback effect on the pituitary gland responsiveness to Gn-RH stimulation.


1978 ◽  
Vol 76 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. K. SEN ◽  
K. M. J. MENON

Specific oestradiol binding to a receptor in nuclear and cytosol fractions of the rat anterior pituitary gland and pituitary responsiveness to gonadotrophin releasing hormone (GnRH) during the oestrous cycle have been studied. To accomplish this, both unoccupied and occupied oestradiol-binding sites in the cytosol and oestradiol-binding sites in the nucleus and total cell were measured during the oestrous cycle. The concentration of unoccupied and occupied sites and total oestradiol binding in the cytosol fluctuated during the cycle. At pro-oestrus, the concentration of cytosol receptor was diminished by about 40% and replenishment occurred during oestrus. On the other hand, a profound increase in concentrations of cellular and nuclear receptors occurred at pro-oestrus. Administration of GnRH significantly stimulated LH release at all stages of the cycle. The maximum stimulation of LH release by GnRH was observed at 13.00 h of pro-oestrus. From these studies, it is concluded that pituitary responsiveness to exogenous GnRH during pro-oestrus parallels the changes in the content of oestrogen receptors in the cytosol and nucleus.


1982 ◽  
Vol 101 (2) ◽  
pp. 264-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Ekholm ◽  
T. Hillensjö ◽  
W. J. Le Maire ◽  
C. Magnusson ◽  
C. S. Sheela Rani

Abstract. Previous studies have shown that gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) can induce resumption of meiosis in follicle-enclosed rat oocytes. In the present study a GnRH antagonistic analogue ([d-pGlul, d-Phe2,-d-Trp3,6]LRF) was found to effectively abolish the stimulatory effect of a GnRH agonist upon resumption of meiosis and lactate accumulation in isolated pre-ovulatory rat follicles but the have no effect on LH stimulation of these parameters. It is concluded that although LH and GnRH can evoke a similar response they act through separate receptor sites and that it is unlikely that GnRH mediates the effect of LH on meiosis or glycolysis.


Blood ◽  
1984 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
pp. 679-682
Author(s):  
R Landolfi ◽  
M Steiner

Moderate doses of ethanol were shown to induce a significant rise in prostacyclin (PGI2) concentration in cultures of endothelial cells derived from umbilical veins. Administration of 32 g of ethanol to six volunteers elevated plasma levels of PGI2 in parallel with those of blood alcohol. Although not specific for ethanol, this alcohol induced the largest change in PGI2. Withdrawal of the stimulant alcohol caused prompt reduction of the elevated prostacyclin to baseline values. The activity of ethanol appears to be due to a direct stimulation of cyclooxygenase. The release of [14C]arachidonic acid from prelabeled endothelial cells was decreased by ethanol. PGE2 production was also enhanced by exposure of endothelial cells to ethanol. The physiologic significance of these alcohol-induced changes in PGI2 levels remains to be established.


1994 ◽  
Vol 143 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
P A Fowler ◽  
P Cunningham ◽  
M Fraser ◽  
F MacGregor ◽  
B Byrne ◽  
...  

Abstract A penfusion system based on ovine pituitary tissue explants was used to investigate the effects of follicular fluid (hFF) and serum from superovulated women on pituitary responsiveness to gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH). The specific aims of the study were to determine both if gonadotrophin surge-attenuating factor (GnSAF) bioactivity is present in the peripheral circulation as well as in the follicles of superovulated women and if GnSAF suppresses GnRH self-priming in vitro. Two pulses of GnRH, 1 h apart, produced marked peaks in LH secreted from control chambers, with GnRH self-priming evident in the significant difference between the first (134·4±1·7–232·1±24·0% of basal secretion) and second (183·9±15·8–313·9±14·0% of basal secretion) LH peaks. Both follicular fluid and serum pooled from two different groups of women produced marked suppression of the first (unprimed) and second (primed) LH peaks. The hFF reduced the first LH peak to 69·6±7·8 and 60·2±9·7% and the second LH peak to 57·4±6·7 and 42·6±6·5% of control LH secretion. Overall, the serum reduced the first and second LH peaks to 76·8±4·2 and 62·9±3·6% of control respectively. These results demonstrated that GnSAF bioactivity suppresses GnRH self-priming, and is present in both the peripheral circulation and hFF. The same material administered to dispersed ovine pituitary monolayers produced similar marked suppression of GnRH-induced LH secretion, with approximately 50-fold less GnSAF bioactivity in serum compared with hFF. Combined doses of oestradiol and progesterone, or hFF from large follicles containing little GnSAF, produced stimulation of GnRH-induced LH secretion and GnRH self-priming (second peaks 78·1±38·9 and 27·4±15·7% respectively higher than first peaks). Thus, in conclusion, GnSAF in hFF and serum markedly attenuated both unprimed and primed pituitary response to GnRH, virtually abolishing the GnRH self-priming effect. Journal of Endocrinology (1994) 143, 45–54


1990 ◽  
Vol 126 (2) ◽  
pp. 297-307 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. M. Picton ◽  
C. G. Tsonis ◽  
A. S. McNeilly

ABSTRACT The study investigated the relationship between the plasma concentration of FSH and the stimulation of preovulatory follicle growth in vivo in ewes chronically treated with the gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist buserelin (HOE 766). Welsh Mountain ewes with regular oestrous cycles were treated for 6 weeks with two discs implants placed s.c., each containing 5 mg of the agonist in a matrix of polyhydroxybutyric acid. Treatment with the agonist for 35 days produced a sustained suppression of the plasma concentration of FSH, stopped the pulsatile release of LH and prevented follicular development beyond 2·5 mm diameter. There was no difference between the total number of follicles > 1·0 mm diameter present in the ovaries of GnRH agonist-treated ewes and day 8 luteal phase control ewes. During the sixth week of agonist treatment ewes were infused with ovine FSH (6 μg NIADDK-oFSH16/h) in the presence of only basal concentrations of LH. After 24, 48, 72 or 120 h of FSH infusion, the mean number of follicles > 1 ·0 mm diameter per ewe was not significantly different between treated and control animals. Infusion of FSH caused a timedependent increase in (1) the number of follicles per ovary >2·5 mm, (2) the mean diameter of these follicles and (3) the proportion of the large follicles which could be classified as oestrogenic (> 3·7 nmol oestradiol/follicle per h in vitro). Injection of human chorionic gonadotrophin (750IU i.m.) after 120 h of FSH infusion caused the majority of these large follicles to ovulate and form apparently normal corpora lutea. These results indicate that, in the absence of pulsatile LH, FSH stimulates the growth of normal large oestrogenic follicles which, when stimulated, ovulate to produce viable corpora lutea. Journal of Endocrinology (1990) 126, 297–307


1990 ◽  
Vol 267 (2) ◽  
pp. 359-364 ◽  
Author(s):  
G J Law ◽  
J A Pachter ◽  
O Thastrup ◽  
M R Hanley ◽  
P S Dannies

Thapsigargin stimulates an increase of cytosolic free Ca2+ concentration [( Ca2+]c) in, and 45Ca2+ efflux from, a clone of GH4C1 pituitary cells. This increase in [Ca2+]c was followed by a lower sustained elevation of [Ca2+]c, which required the presence of extracellular Ca2+, and was not inhibited by a Ca2(+)-channel blocker, nimodipine. Thapsigargin had no effect on inositol phosphate generation. We used thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) to mobilize Ca2+ from an InsP3-sensitive store. Pretreatment with thapsigargin blocked the ability of TRH to cause a transient increase in both [Ca2+]c and 45Ca2+ efflux. The block of TRH-induced Ca2+ mobilization was not caused by a block at the receptor level, because TRH stimulation of InsP3 was not affected by thapsigargin. Rundown of the TRH-releasable store by Ca2(+)-induced Ca2+ release does not appear to account for the action of thapsigargin on the TRH-induced spike in [Ca2+]c, because BAY K 8644, which causes a sustained rise in [Ca2+]c, did not block Ca2+ release caused by TRH. In addition, caffeine, which releases Ca2+ from intracellular stores in other cell types, caused an increase in [Ca2+]c in GH4C1 cells, but had no effect on a subsequent spike in [Ca2+]c induced by TRH or thapsigargin. TRH caused a substantial decrease in the amount of intracellular Ca2+ released by thapsigargin. We conclude that in GH4C1 cells thapsigargin actively discharges an InsP3-releasable pool of Ca2+ and that this mechanism alone causes the block of the TRH-induced increase in [Ca2+]c.


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