IMMUNOREACTIVE LUTEINIZING HORMONE RELEASING FACTOR IN PITUITARY STALK BLOOD FROM FEMALE RATS: SEX STEROID MODULATION OF RESPONSE TO ELECTRICAL STIMULATION OF PREOPTIC AREA OR MEDIAN EMINENCE

1976 ◽  
Vol 70 (3) ◽  
pp. 501-511 ◽  
Author(s):  
NANCY M. SHERWOOD ◽  
SHARON A. CHIAPPA ◽  
G. FINK
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Stimulation ◽  
Median Eminence ◽  
Preoptic Area ◽  
Neural Mechanism ◽  
Female Rats ◽  
Pituitary Stalk ◽  
Facilitatory Effect ◽  
Sex Steroid ◽  
Female Rat ◽  
Stimulation Of

SUMMARY The effects of sex steroid hormones on the responsiveness of the neural mechanism responsible for the secretion of LH-RF have been examined in the female rat. Responsiveness was determined at pro-oestrus by measuring the increments in immunoreactive LH-RF of pituitary stalk blood produced by electrical stimulation of the medial preoptic area or median eminence. Ovariectomy on the morning of dioestrus reduced the LH-RF response to preoptic stimulation while oestradiol benzoate (OB) or testosterone propionate (TP) administered immediately after ovariectomy significantly augmented the response. The facilitatory effect of TP was possibly due to its conversion to an aromatized derivative since 5α-dihydrotestosterone monobenzoate was ineffective. Progesterone did not facilitate preoptic responsiveness, and, when administered to animals ovariectomized at 12.00 h of pro-oestrus, reduced the LH-RF response at 18.00 h the same day. Stimulation of the median eminence produced a significantly greater increment in LH-RF than stimulation of the preoptic area. The facilitatory action of OB on the LH-RF response was less marked for median eminence compared with preoptic stimulation. The administration of ICI 46474 at 17.00 h of dioestrus did not reduce preoptic responsiveness on the morning of the next day, suggesting that this compound does not act as an 'antioestrogen' at the level of the preoptic area.

THE EFFECT OF OVARIAN STEROIDS ON HYPOTHALAMIC THRESHOLDS FOR OVULATION IN THE FEMALE RAT

1971 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 421-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. G. McDONALD ◽  
D. P. GILMORE
Keyword(s):  
Negative Feedback ◽  
Median Eminence ◽  
Preoptic Area ◽  
Feedback Effect ◽  
Female Rats ◽  
Female Rat ◽  
Ovarian Hormone ◽  
Ovarian Steroids ◽  
Positive Feedback Effect ◽  
Stimulation Of

SUMMARY Electrochemical stimulation of the basal and preoptic hypothalamus, under sodium pentobarbitone anaesthesia, was carried out on the day of pro-oestrus in normal cycling and in ovarian hormone-treated female rats. Control rats ovulated in response to 25, 50 and 100 μA for 60 s in the median eminence and to 10 μA for 60 s in the preoptic area. Oestradiol (1 μg) given 24 h before median eminence stimulation significantly increased the number of rats ovulating. An injection of progesterone (1 mg) 24 h before median eminence stimulation did not affect the number of animals ovulating or the number of ova shed. In contrast, there was a significant reduction in the number of animals ovulating after preoptic stimulation. Stimulation of the median eminence 2–4 h after progesterone administration increased the number of animals ovulating. The results suggest that both oestradiol and progesterone exert a positive feedback effect at or below the level of the median eminence and that the negative feedback effect of progesterone is exerted on the preoptic area.

IMMUNOREACTIVE LUTEINIZING HORMONE RELEASING FACTOR IN RAT PITUITARY STALK BLOOD: EFFECTS OF ELECTRICAL STIMULATION OF THE MEDIAL PREOPTIC AREA

1976 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. FINK ◽  
M. G. JAMIESON
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Stimulation ◽  
Preoptic Area ◽  
Free Acid ◽  
Medial Preoptic Area ◽  
Oestrous Cycle ◽  
Female Rats ◽  
Pituitary Stalk ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Male And Female Rats ◽  
Stimulation Of

SUMMARY Blood was collected from the cut pituitary stalk of male and female rats before and during the application of an electrical stimulus to the medial preoptic area. The plasma was assayed for immunoreactive LH releasing factor (RF) by a double antibody radioimmunoassay using a specific antiserum raised in rabbits against the free acid derivative of the decapeptide LH-RF conjugated to bovine serum albumin. The decapeptide (used as a standard) and pituitary stalk plasma cross-reacted in a similar manner with the antiserum. Stimulation of the preoptic area increased significantly the amount of LH-RF in pituitary stalk plasma in both male and female rats. The increase in LH-RF was linearly related to the strength of the stimulating current, and the amount of LH-RF liberated diminished on cessation of the stimulus. The concentration of LH-RF in pituitary stalk plasma from female rats was significantly greater than that in jugular venous plasma. The magnitudes of the mean increments of LH-RF in pituitary stalk plasma (stimulation minus pre-stimulation values) at various times of the oestrous cycle in female rats suggests that between 18.00 h of dioestrus and 13.00 h of pro-oestrus there is an increase in sensitivity of the LH-RF secretory mechanism to electrical stimulation. However, the increments decreased in magnitude between 13.00 and 18.00 h of pro-oestrus, indicating that the marked increase in responsiveness of the hypothalamo-hypophysial system to electrical stimulation which occurs during this period is due mainly to a change in sensitivity of the pituitary gonadotrophs to LH-RF. The LH-RF in pituitary stalk plasma collected before application of the stimulus was higher at some of the times examined during pro-oestrus than at other times of the oestrous cycle. A higher level of the secretion of the factor may be important for the full development of the priming effect of LH-RF and, consequently, the marked increase in responsiveness of the pituitary gland which occurs during the afternoon of pro-oestrus.

ADENOHYPOPHYSEAL LH CONTENT IN NORMAL, ANDROGEN-STERILIZED AND PROGESTERONE-PRIMED STERILE FEMALE RATS

1962 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger A. Gorski ◽  
Charles A. Barraclough
Keyword(s):  
Ascorbic Acid ◽  
Electrical Stimulation ◽  
Quantitative Determination ◽  
Median Eminence ◽  
Hypothalamic Stimulation ◽  
Female Rats ◽  
Rat Pituitary ◽  
Gland Content ◽  
Stimulation Of

ABSTRACT We have previously suggested that the failure of the androgen-sterilized, persistent-oestrous rat to ovulate, following electrical stimulation of the median eminence structures of the hypothalamus, is due to an insufficiency in adenohypophyseal LH concentration. Using the ovarian ascorbic acid technique for quantitative determination of pituitary LH content, the present studies have demonstrated that the sterile rat pituitary gland contains one-third the LH content of the normal prooestrous gland. Furthermore, not only does progesterone priming of this persistent-oestrous rat result in a 75 % increase in LH concentration, but on hypothalamic stimulation sufficient LH is released to induce ovulation. The decrease in LH concentration which accompanies ovulation in the progesterone-primed, sterile rat is approximately 45 % of the total gland content as compared with a 51 % decrease in pituitary content in the normal cyclic rat.

COMPARISON OF FOLLICLE-STIMULATING HORMONE AND LUTEINIZING HORMONE SECRETION AFTER ELECTRICAL STIMULATION OF THE PREOPTIC PART OF THE HYPOTHALAMUS IN FEMALE RATS ANAESTHETIZED WITH ETHYL CARBAMATE OR SODIUM PENTOBARBITONE

1978 ◽  
Vol 78 (1) ◽  
pp. 151-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. G. DYER ◽  
M. B. TER HAAR ◽  
LINDA C. MAYES
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Stimulation ◽  
Luteinizing Hormone ◽  
Follicle Stimulating Hormone ◽  
Hormone Secretion ◽  
Control Process ◽  
Female Rats ◽  
Female Rat ◽  
Luteinizing Hormone Secretion ◽  
Stimulation Of ◽  
Stimulating Hormone

A.R.C. Institute of Animal Physiology, Babraham, Cambridge, CB2 4AT (Received 17 January 1978) For over 30 years, the method by which the brain regulates the secretion of gonadotrophic hormones has been studied by electrical stimulation of those parts of the central nervous system thought to be implicated in the control process. Much of the work has been performed on the female rat. In this species, anaesthetic doses of sodium pentobarbitone, administered immediately before the pro-oestrous 'critical period', block the preovulatory surge of luteinizing hormone (LH) for 24 h. The same treatment also reduces the early phase of the pro-oestrous secretion of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH; Daane & Parlow, 1971). Electrical stimulation of the preoptic part of the hypothalamus can overcome this blocking effect and analysis of the optimum parameters required to restore normal secretion of gonadotrophins may give some insight into the endogenous process (e.g. Everett, 1965; Fink & Aiyer, 1974;

THE EFFECT OF HYPOTHALAMIC STIMULATION AND PROGESTERONE ON OVULATION IN FEMALE RATS TREATED WITH THE OESTROGEN ANTAGONIST ICI 46,474

1973 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
pp. 345-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. G. McDonald
Keyword(s):  
Single Dose ◽  
Hypothalamic Stimulation ◽  
Female Rats ◽  
Weight Increase ◽  
Facilitatory Effect ◽  
Sexual Receptivity ◽  
Female Rat ◽  
Uterine Weight ◽  
Expected Time ◽  
Stimulation Of

ABSTRACT A single dose (0.2 mg) of the antioestrogen ICI 46,474 at 15:00 h on the second day of dioestrus inhibited ovulation in the female rat. This inhibition could not be overcome by electrochemical stimulation of the basal hypothalamus on the afternoon of pro-oestrus. In contrast, progesterone (1.0 mg) treatment at 10:30 h on pro-oestrus induced ovulation at the expected time. The facilitatory effect of progesterone was prevented by administration of Nembutal (35 mg/kg) at 11:00 h on pro-oestrus. Progesterone did not induce ovulation in rats treated with ICI 46,474 on both dioestrus day 1 and 2. Sexual receptivity in ovariectomized oestradiol-treated (2.0 μg/day) rats was significantly depressed by the antioestrogen (1.0 mg/day) whether it was given 1 h before, 1 h after, or at the same time as the oestradiol. The compound also prevented the uterine weight increase in response to oestradiol but exerted a significant effect on uterine weight itself when compared to oil treated controls.

Precocious ovulation induced by human chorionic gonadotrophin in the immature female rat: comparison of follicle growth induced by treatment with human chorionic gonadotrophin and by electrical stimulation of the hypothalamus

1985 ◽  
Vol 106 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. M. A. Meijs-Roelofs ◽  
P. Kramer ◽  
P. Osman
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Stimulation ◽  
Ovarian Follicle ◽  
Treated Group ◽  
Chorionic Gonadotrophin ◽  
Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin ◽  
Female Rats ◽  
Female Rat ◽  
Follicle Growth ◽  
Immature Female ◽  
Stimulation Of

ABSTRACT Precocious first ovulation, preceded by an endogenous preovulatory LH surge, could be predictably induced in immature female rats by administering repeated injections of human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG). Administration of a dose of 0·05–0·075 i.u. hCG, four times a day from day 28 to day 31 of age resulted in a highly constant ovulatory response: at 4·0±0·0 days after the start of treatment 7·7±0·3 (n = 15) ova were found. Use of a higher dose of hCG (0·1 i.u.) resulted in lower numbers of ova (5·6±0·4, n = 7; P<0·005) whereas use of a lower dose of hCG (0·025–0·038 i.u.) resulted in a less constant timing of the induced ovulation at 5·4±0·2 days after the start of treatment (n = 7; P<0·0005). In animals treated with the dose of 0·05–0·075 i.u. hCG, a positive correlation was found between body weight at the start of treatment and the number of ova released (r = 0·75, n = 25; P<0·001). Ovarian follicle dynamics were studied on the various days of hCG treatment (dose 0·05–0·075 i.u.) and compared with the follicle changes that take place after electrical stimulation of the hypothalamus, performed on day 28, a treatment known to result in first ovulation 4–5 days later. In both groups a decrease in the number of the smallest and the middle-sized antral follicles as compared with their respective controls was seen, whereas numbers of follicles in the largest, 'ovulatable' size classes gradually increased. The pattern was more conspicuous in the hCG-treated group, presumably related to greater constancy in timing of the ovulatory response in this group. The present data support the view that endogenous changes in LH secretion during late prepuberty (which have been found to take place) play a significant role in stimulating late-prepubertal follicle growth and the ensuing first ovulation. J. Endocr. (1985) 106, 61–66

LUTEINIZING HORMONE RELEASING FACTOR IN ULTRAFILTRATES OF BLOOD COLLECTED FROM THE PITUITARY STALK OF OVARIECTOMIZED RATS AND RATS SUBJECTED TO ELECTRICAL STIMULATION OF THE PREOPTIC AREA

1972 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-237 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. G. BURGER ◽  
G. FINK ◽  
V. W. K. LEE
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Stimulation ◽  
Luteinizing Hormone ◽  
Preoptic Area ◽  
Male Rats ◽  
Pituitary Stalk ◽  
Ovariectomized Rats ◽  
Serum Lh ◽  
Pituitary Glands ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Stimulation Of

SUMMARY The presence of luteinizing hormone releasing factor (LH-RF) activity was investigated in pituitary stalk and systemic blood collected from rats ovariectomized at least 3 weeks previously, and in stalk blood from male rats in which electrodes had been implanted in the medial preoptic area of the brain. Most of the assayable luteinizing hormone (LH) present in the blood samples was eliminated by acid-ethanol extraction followed by ultrafiltration. The ultrafiltrates were injected into ovariectomized rats treated with oestrogen and progesterone, and increments in the concentration of LH in the sera of these animals, estimated by radioimmunoassay, were taken as an indication that the filtrate was able to release LH from the anterior pituitary gland. The ultrafiltrates of both the stalk and systemic plasma from the ovariectomized rats exhibited LH-RF activity as did the ultrafiltrates of blood collected from the pituitary stalk of the male rats during electrical stimulation of the preoptic area; stalk blood collected from these animals before the current was applied appeared to be inactive. The LH-RF activity of the ultrafiltrates of systemic and pituitary stalk plasma taken from ovariectomized rats was similar, and, therefore, the possibility is raised that the response of the pituitary glands in ovariectomized rats treated with oestrogen and progesterone is of an all or none type. The presence of appreciable quantities of LH-RF in the systemic plasma of ovariectomized rats may explain the discrepancy between bioassay and immunoassay estimates of LH in the plasma of these animals. The rapid increase in the concentration of serum LH and in the LH-RF activity of pituitary stalk plasma which followed stimulation of the preoptic area suggests that this region of the brain may be important in the control of the secretion of LH in the male as well as in the female animal.

Estrogen-sensitive neurons in the female rat ventral tegmental area: a dual route for the hormone action

1993 ◽  
Vol 70 (4) ◽  
pp. 1469-1475 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Sakamoto ◽  
S. Suga ◽  
Y. Sakuma
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Stimulation ◽  
Ventral Tegmental Area ◽  
Refractory Period ◽  
Action Potentials ◽  
Female Rats ◽  
Female Rat ◽  
Antidromic Activation ◽  
Ventral Tegmental ◽  
Central Gray ◽  
Stimulation Of

1. Electrical stimulation of the ventral part of the midbrain central gray (CG) elicited antidromic action potentials in 136 neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) of 23 urethan-anesthetized ovariectomized female rats. 2. Antidromic action potentials were positive-negative biphasic and completed mostly within 2.4 ms. Many had a notch in their initial positive deflection, at which antidromic potentials often failed to propagate into the neuronal soma. 3. The latency for antidromic activation ranged 1.0-10.5 ms, and the threshold was 100-1,700 microA. The relative refractory period was 0.8-2.8 ms. In 23 neurons (17%) gradual changes in stimulus intensity caused latency jumps, suggesting that their axons terminate or spread into branches in stimulation sites. 4. The parameters for antidromic activation were compared among 12 animals with a subcutaneous Silastic capsule of estrogen and 11 others with a blank capsule. Estrogen raised the mean threshold from 675 +/- 40 (SE) microA (n = 69) to 908 +/- 40 microA (n = 67). At the same time, estrogen significantly decreased the probability of the antidromic propagation from 63 to 41%. No changes were detected in the latency or the refractory period. 5. The probability distribution of the threshold was different in ovariectomized animals from that in estrogen-treated animals. Estrogen increased the number of cells with thresholds in the 1,300- to 1,500-microA range. 6. The probability of antidromic propagation was stable in each neuron to stimuli repeated at 1.0 Hz. Electrical stimulation of the preoptic area (POA) with a 30-s train of 50-microA pulses at 100 Hz increased the probability of antidromic propagation into the soma.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

OVULATORY DISCHARGE OF GONADOTROPHINS INDUCED BY HYPOTHALAMIC STIMULATION IN CASTRATED MALE RATS BEARING A TRANSPLANTED OVARY

1966 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 281-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Moll ◽  
G. H. Zeilmaker
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Stimulation ◽  
Preoptic Area ◽  
Hypothalamic Stimulation ◽  
Male Rats ◽  
Corpora Lutea ◽  
Histological Changes ◽  
Experimental Animals ◽  
Cumulus Oophorus ◽  
Dc Current ◽  
Stimulation Of

ABSTRACT Castrated young adult inbred male rats bearing ovarian transplants were subjected to electrical stimulation of the hypothalamus. This was done in order to investigate whether discharge of ovulatory amounts of gonadotrophins could be induced in such male animals by this procedure. Bilateral stimulations with unipolar electrodes and a DC current of 1.5 mA applied during 10 seconds induced in the ovarian grafts histological changes indicating the discharge of ovulatory amounts of gonadotrophins. In animals killed one day after stimulation these changes consisted of displacement of the ova towards the centre of the follicles with loosening of the cumulus oophorus. In one animal the ova had left the follicles. In animals killed three days after stimulation numerous young corpora lutea could be observed. These results were obtained with electrode tips either close to the median eminence, or in the preoptic area. Shamstimulations were ineffective. Some of the experimental animals received progesterone pretreatment. This rendered the stimulations ineffective, if continued until the day preceding stimulation, but seemed without effect on the results of stimulation, if two or three days without progesterone preceded the stimulations.

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