OESTROGEN AND PROGESTERONE INFLUENCE ON THE RELEASE OF PROLACTIN IN OVARIECTOMIZED RATS

1974 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. CALIGARIS ◽  
J. J. ASTRADA ◽  
S. TALEISNIK

SUMMARY The concentration of prolactin in serum after oestrogen and progesterone injection into spayed rats was measured by radioimmunoassay. After a single injection of 5 μg oestradiol benzoate (OB) into long-term ovariectomized rats, serum prolactin concentrations showed a circadian rhythm with high levels in the afternoon and almost no changes in the morning. Peaks of prolactin occurred 2, 3 and 4 days after the injection. Below a dose of 1 μg OB, the response was dose-dependent, but the response was then maximal. In spayed rats primed with 5 μg OB, the injection of 2 mg progesterone 2, 3 or 4 days later resulted in a significant increase in serum prolactin. This response, in contrast to that of oestrogen, occurred in the morning and in the evening and was found to be dose-dependent. The rise in serum prolactin after injection of 1 mg progesterone also showed a close relationship to the priming dose of OB. Progesterone had no effect in spayed, untreated animals. Maximal levels of prolactin were attained 3–4 h after the s.c. injection of progesterone. The release of prolactin which can be induced either by OB or by progesterone was blocked by the administration of progesterone injected 1 day before the expected release would occur. These results indicate that progesterone exerts both facilitatory and inhibitory effects on prolactin secretion. Male rats were found to be less sensitive to the ovarian steroid treatment. It is suggested that oestrogen could be responsible for the rise in prolactin observed at pro-oestrus and progesterone for the increase in prolactin in pseudopregnancy and pregnancy.

1977 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
pp. 315-NP ◽  
Author(s):  
A. DANGUY ◽  
J. L. PASTEELS ◽  
F. ECTORS

A single injection of 1 mg of a complex of testosterone esters on day 5 of life was used to prepare constantly oestrous rats. Such androgenized female rats were then ovariectomized and submitted to stereotaxical implantation of 1 μg oestradiol benzoate, 5 μg testosterone isobutyrate or, as a control, 10 μg cholesterol in the anterior hypothalamic areas. The effects of the steroids on plasma and pituitary FSH and LH were assessed by radioimmunoassay. As reported previously by us in normal female and male rats, the preoptic–suprachiasmatic area (POA) was able to control synthesis and secretion of both gonadotrophins and did not lose its sensitivity to oestradiol and testosterone in androgenized rats. Evidence for enhanced prolactin secretion in androgenized rats was derived from immunofluorescence studies of the pituitary gland and from histology of the mammary glands. In this respect the condition of the androgenized females was opposite to that of the males. The present work demonstrated that stimulation of prolactin secretion in androgenized female rats resulted from oestrogen action due to permanent oestrus rather than from impairment of hypothalamo-hypophysial relationships. Indeed, prolactin stimulation was suppressed when the androgenized rats were ovariectomized and restored when they were subsequently implanted with oestradiol in the POA.


1984 ◽  
Vol 102 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Bhanot ◽  
M. Wilkinson

ABSTRACT We have attempted to clarify the physiological involvement of endogenous opiates in the steroid-mediated control of gonadotrophin release. Our studies showed that there was an acute reduction in the inhibitory effects of endogenous opiates on LH and FSH release following gonadectomy in the rat. This was indicated by a significant reduction in the ability of naloxone to stimulate serum LH/FSH levels (sampled at 15 min) in 26-day-old female rats 48 h after ovariectomy. Luteinizing hormone was highly sensitive to the inhibitory effects of the synthetic met-enkephalin analogue, FK 33-824, at this time (sampled at 90 min). An unexpected observation was that long-term absence of gonadal steroids also disrupted the ability of exogenous opiates, FK 33-824 and morphine, to influence LH release. This was seen as an inability of FK 33-824 (1·0 or 3·0 mg/kg) to inhibit LH secretion. The effects of gonadectomy on opiate control of LH occurred at all developmental stages and were not due to a disruption of sexual maturation. Opiate involvement in prolactin secretion did not appear to be adversely affected by an absence of gonadal steroids. Another novel aspect of this work was that the opiatergic component in the control of gonadotrophin secretion could be reinstated in long-term gonadectomized rats by treatment with oestradiol benzoate or testosterone propionate. Similarly, priming with increasing dosages of oestradiol benzoate which resulted in progressively lower LH levels gave larger naloxone responses. This steroid–opiate interdependency suggests that the negative feedback influence of gonadal steroids on LH secretion is conveyed, in part, by hypothalamic opiate peptides. Our results therefore provide a neurochemical basis for gonadal steroid negative feedback. J. Endocr. (1984) 102, 133–141


1973 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. M. LLOYD ◽  
J. D. MEARES ◽  
JOAN JACOBI

SUMMARY The effects of a single injection of 1 mg diethylstilboestrol dipropionate on pituitary mitotic activity and on secretion of growth hormone and prolactin were investigated in male rats on each of the first 15 days following the single dose and then at intervals for a total period of 63 days. Mitotic activity increased to a maximum on day 4 and then gradually diminished. Serum growth hormone was moderately increased during the 2nd week and serum prolactin showed a gradual rise with a return to normal on day 63. In the pituitary gland, growth hormone concentration diminished until day 28, whereas prolactin rose quickly at first, maintained a raised level and increased further on day 43. During the first 12 days, pituitary weight was significantly correlated with serum growth hormone and prolactin concentration. During days 13–28, serum prolactin, but not growth hormone, was significantly correlated with the pituitary mitotic index.


1978 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. M. LLOYD ◽  
J. M. JACOBI ◽  
J. D. MEARES

Haloperidol, bromocriptine and diethylstilboestrol dipropionate were given in various régimes to male rats to determine their effects on pituitary DNA synthesis, prolactin secretion and growth hormone secretion. Haloperidol increased serum prolactin but did not stimulate pituitary DNA synthesis or reduce pituitary prolactin concentrations. Haloperidol potentiated the effects of oestrogen on serum prolactin and on pituitary DNA synthesis; pituitary prolactin concentrations were greatly reduced, and growth hormone secretion was slightly inhibited. The inhibitory effects of bromocriptine in oestrogen-stimulated rats were demonstrated by smaller pituitary weights and decreased DNA synthesis; serum prolactin levels were lowered and pituitary prolactin concentrations were increased. Haloperidol, given to rats treated with oestrogen and bromocriptine, reversed the inhibitory effects of bromocriptine on DNA synthesis and serum prolactin; pituitary prolactin concentrations fell to well below normal. The results suggest that the haloperidol potentiation of oestrogeninduced pituitary DNA synthesis may depend upon stimulation of prolactin secretion together with reduction of intracellular prolactin levels.


1978 ◽  
Vol 78 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. VANDOREN ◽  
H. VAN BAELEN ◽  
G. VERHOEVEN ◽  
P. DE MOOR

Evidence is presented that the level of α2u-globulin in the serum of male rats depends, at least in part, on neonatal androgens. After castration of adult animals the concentration of this protein falls but remains measurable, whereas in intact or ovariectomized female rats α2u-globulin cannot be detected. Moreover, α2u-globulin is found in adult male and female rats gonadectomized at birth and treated with a single injection of testosterone propionate immediately thereafter. The mechanism by which neonatal androgens increase the concentration of α2u-globulin has been investigated. Transplantation of a supplementary pituitary gland under the renal capsule of male rats resulted in reduced levels of α2u-globulin and increased levels of transcortin. The changes discussed here were observed only in those animals in which the transplant was functional and they were amplified or reversed by modulators of prolactin secretion such as oestrogens or bromocriptine respectively. The hypothesis is advanced that neonatal androgens stimulate the production of a hypothalamic inhibitory factor that controls the secretion of prolactin, or another hypophysial hormone subjected to similar neuroendocrine control. Measurements in gonadectomized animals and in rats receiving both oestradiol benzoate and bromocriptine indicate that, besides these pituitary-mediated effects, both oestrogens and androgens exert direct effects on the level of α2u-globulin.


1978 ◽  
Vol 77 (3) ◽  
pp. 397-403 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. J. THODY ◽  
H. DIJKSTRA

Sexually experienced male rats were used to test for whole body and preputial gland odours of female rats. The male rats clearly preferred whole body odours of intact female rats to those of preputialectomized female rats. The male rats also preferred the odour of preputial gland tissue of intact female rats to that of ovariectomized female rats and were especially attracted to the preputial gland odours of female rats in pro-oestrus and oestrus. The preputial gland odours of ovariectomized rats that had received oestradiol benzoate for 7 days were attractive to male rats, although similar treatment with progesterone was ineffective. However, a single injection of progesterone given 72 h after a single injection of oestradiol benzoate not only made ovariectomized rats receptive, but also made their preputial gland odours attractive to male rats. The results suggest that the preputial gland of the female rat is responsible for odours that serve to attract sexually experienced male rats. Ovarian steroids, as well as controlling receptivity in the female rat, would also appear to control the production of sex attractants in the preputial gland. There was no relationship between the size of the preputial glands and their ability to attract male rats which suggests that preputial gland growth and production of sex attractants are not under the same hormonal control.


1985 ◽  
Vol 104 (3) ◽  
pp. 397-406 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. M. Horn ◽  
G. Fink

ABSTRACT The effect of the 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) uptake blockers on the surges of LH and prolactin has been investigated in pro-oestrous rats and various experimental models used frequently to study the effects of steroids on LH and prolactin secretion in female rats. The steroid models were: rats ovariectomized on dioestrus, injected immediately with oestradiol benzoate (OB) and at 12.00 h on the next day (presumptive pro-oestrus) with progesterone (model 1); long-term ovariectomized rats injected with a single injection of OB and 72 h later with either progesterone (model 2) or OB (model 3); long-term ovariectomized rats injected daily with OB (model 4). The uptake blockers alaproclate (3–30 mg/kg) and zimelidine (20 mg/kg) were injected and blood samples withdrawn from previously implanted intra-atrial cannulae. Plasma LH and prolactin concentrations were determined by radioimmunoassay. The present study confirmed that a surge of LH occurs at about 17.00–18.00 h of the presumptive day of pro-oestrus in model 1, at about 5 h after (∼ 17.00 h) the injection of either progesterone or the second injection of OB in models 2 and 3, and diurnally in model 4, and the simultaneous occurrence of a prolactin surge in models 2 and 4. A surge of prolactin at the same time as the LH surge was shown to occur also in models 1 and 3. Alaproclate (30 mg/kg) administered at 15.00 h delayed significantly the peak of the prolactin surge in the pro-oestrous rat and models 1, 3 and 4, and in the latter the magnitude of the prolactin surge was also significantly reduced. By contrast, the peak of the prolactin surge in model 2 was significantly prolonged by alaproclate. Alaproclate had no significant effect on either the timing or the magnitude of the LH surge in the pro-oestrous rat, and models 3 and 4. The peak of the LH surge was delayed by alaproclate in model 1 and abolished in model 2, providing further evidence for the possible importance of interactions between 5-HT and progesterone in neuroendocrine control. Zimelidine had no significant effect on either the LH or prolactin surge in the pro-oestrous rat and in models 1 and 2. These results show that normal 5-HT uptake is necessary for the normal timing and/or magnitude of the spontaneous and steroid-induced prolactin surge but is not essential for the normal timing and magnitude of the spontaneous surge of LH and the LH surge in some but not all steroid models. In terms of neuroendocrine effects alaproclate is more potent than zimelidine. The different effects of alaproclate in the different steroid models suggest that although superficially similar, different mechanisms underlie the prolactin and LH surges in these steroid models. J. Endocr. (1985) 104, 397–406


1987 ◽  
Vol 114 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Saade ◽  
D. R. London ◽  
R. N. Clayton

ABSTRACT The effect of oestradiol-17β on the hypothalamo-pituitary axis of intact adult male rats was studied. A single injection of oestradiol did not change the serum LH response to gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) 48 h or 7 days after the injection, while administration of oestrogen over 66 days suppressed basal serum LH to <3·1 μg/l and did not enhance the LH response to GnRH at any time. Treatment of ovariectomized rats with oestradiol capsules, however, enhanced the LH response to GnRH on days 3 and 14 of the treatment as compared with the control group (P<0·02 and P<0·05 respectively). Long-term treatment with oestradiol suppressed intrapituitary LH and FSH contents as well as pituitary GnRH receptors (P<0·0004, P<0·005 and P<0·001 respectively), whereas serum and intrapituitary prolactin levels were increased. To exclude the possible inhibitory effect of hyperprolactinaemia on LH responsiveness to GnRH, oestradiol-implanted rats were treated with bromocriptine. This prevented the rise in serum prolactin, but failed to enhance the LH response to GnRH. Neither short- nor long-term treatment with oestradiol given under conditions shown to be effective in female animals stimulated the hypothalamo-pituitary-gonadotrophin axis in adult male rats. J. Endocr. (1987) 114,95–101


1969 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 313-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. TALEISNIK ◽  
L. CALIGARIS ◽  
J. J. ASTRADA

SUMMARY Long-term gonadectomized female and male rats showed increased plasma luteinizing hormone (LH) activity (as measured by the ovarian ascorbic acid depletion method). A single injection of 20 μg. oestradiol benzoate or 2·5 mg. testosterone propionate after 3 days reduced the raised values significantly. Progesterone injected into gonadectomized rats primed with gonadal steroids exerts a positive feed-back action on the release of LH. In ovariectomized rats the injection of progesterone 3 days after a single injection of oestradiol or testosterone induced, a few hours later, a significant increase in plasma LH. In contrast, castrated male rats responded to progesterone with an increase in plasma LH only when they had been primed 3 days before with testosterone. This difference was not eliminated by gonadectomy on the first day of life. Androgen-sterilized ovariectomized rats failed to show an increase in plasma LH after progesterone when primed with testosterone but did so after priming with oestradiol. In male rats treated with testosterone in the early neonatal period, the normal LH release induced by progesterone in testosterone-primed animals was abolished. It is concluded that separate female and male patterns of LH release evoked by progesterone exist in the rat, and the difference between them is not determined by a postnatal differentiation in the neural mechanism which controls the secretion of LH.


1985 ◽  
Vol 106 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Hiemke ◽  
B. Poetz ◽  
R. Ghraf

ABSTRACT Long-term (4–6 weeks) ovariectomized rats were injected with either oestradiol benzoate (OB; 20 μg s.c.) or monohydroxytamoxifen (MTAM; 0·2 mg i.p.) plus OB. Oestradiol benzoate was administered at 12.00 h on day 0 and MTAM was given immediately before OB, followed by further injections twice daily to maintain sufficiently high antioestrogen levels. When given alone, OB reduced the serum levels of LH during the morning (08.00–09.00 h) and afternoon (17.30–18.30 h) hours of day 3 after priming. The feedback actions of OB on LH release were accompanied by time-dependent alterations of noradrenaline turnover in the preoptic–anterior hypothalamic brain area (POAH). On day 3 after priming the noradrenaline turnover rate was reduced in the morning and increased in the afternoon. The increase correlated with an enhanced sensitivity of the LH secretory system to progesterone. The antioestrogen MTAM blocked the OB-induced sensitization of LH release to the stimulatory action of progesterone and interfered with the stimulatory long-term effect of oestradiol on hypothalamic noradrenaline turnover. The data strongly support the view that the oestrogen-induced afternoon increase of noradrenaline turnover in the POAH represents a pre-requisite for the induction of LH surges. The stimulatory effect of oestradiol on hypothalamic noradrenaline turnover seems to be mediated by a classical oestrogen receptor mechanism. J. Endocr. (1985) 106, 37–42


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document