EFFECT OF OESTROGEN ON GONADOTROPHIN RELEASE IN STUMPTAILED MONKEYS (MACACA ARCTOIDES) TREATED CHRONICALLY WITH AN AGONIST ANALOGUE OF LUTEINIZING HORMONE RELEASING HORMONE

1981 ◽  
Vol 91 (3) ◽  
pp. 525-530 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. M. FRASER

Nine adult female stumptailed monkeys (Macaca arctoides) treated chronically with daily s.c. injections of d-Ser(But)6des-Gly10,Proethylamide9, luteinizing hormone releasing hormone (LH-RH agonist) to inhibit ovulation, were tested for their ability to respond to an oestrogen provocation test (positive feedback). On two occasions during treatment with the LH-RH agonist (first test between 10 and 35 weeks after treatment had started; second test between 30 and 60 weeks after) the animals were given an i.m. injection of 50 μg oestradiol benzoate/kg in arachis oil. Controls were tested between days 1 and 5 of the normal cycle. In the control monkeys oestrogen induced a clear rise in LH and FSH concentrations in the blood, with highest values between 48 and 60 h after treatment. In marked contrast, none of the animals treated with LH-RH agonist showed this pattern of response. In the first test, five of the nine monkeys showed no rise in LH while in the remaining animals the response was diminished or delayed, and in the second test all nine failed to show a significant rise in LH. In all agonist-treated monkeys oestrogen failed to cause an FSH rise in either test. Thus, chronic treatment with LH-RH agonist in the monkey either abolishes, diminishes or delays the oestrogen-induced LH surge. Since, in the primate, oestrogen appears to release LH by acting directly on the pituitary gland exposed to pulses of LH-RH from the hypothalamus it appears that the LH surge is inhibited primarily because the pituitary gland has been exposed to prolonged stimulation by the agonist.

1981 ◽  
Vol 88 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. M. CONVEY ◽  
J. S. KESNER ◽  
V. PADMANABHAN ◽  
T. D. CARRUTHERS ◽  
T. W. BECK

In ovariectomized heifers, oestradiol decreases concentrations of LH in serum for approximately 12 h after which LH is released in a surge comparable in size and duration to the preovulatory surge. Using this model, we measured LH release induced by LH releasing hormone (LH-RH) from pituitary explants taken from ovariectomized heifers before or after an oestradiol-induced LH surge. These changes were related to changes in LH concentrations in serum and pituitary glands and hypothalamic LH-RH content. Twenty Holstein heifers were randomly assigned to one of four treatment groups to be killed 0, 6, 12, or 24 h after the injection of 500 μg oestradiol-17β. Jugular blood was collected at −2, −1 and 0 h then at intervals of 2 h until slaughter. Pituitary glands were collected and ≃2 mm3 explants were exposed to 4 ng LH-RH/ml medium for 30 min (superfusion) or 4 ng LH-RH/ml medium for 2 h in Erlenmeyer flasks. Levels of LH were measured in the medium. Hypothalami, collected at autopsy, were assayed for LH-RH content. To determine pituitary LH content, an additional 15 ovariectomized heifers were killed, five each at 0, 12 and 24 h after the injection of 500 μg oestradiol. In both groups of heifers, oestradiol reduced serum LH concentrations to ≃ 1 ng/ml, a level which persisted for 12 h, when LH was released in a surge. Pituitary sensitivity to LH-RH was increased at 6 and 12 h after the injection of oestradiol, but was markedly decreased at 24 h, i.e. after the LH surge. Despite this twofold increase in capacity of the pituitary gland to release LH in response to LH-RH, pituitary LH content did not change during 12 h after oestradiol treatment. However, LH content decreased after the LH surge and this decrease was associated with a decrease in pituitary responsiveness to LH-RH. Hypothalamic LH-RH content was not altered by these treatments. We have interpreted our results as evidence that oestradiol exerts a positive feedback effect on the pituitary gland of ovariectomized heifers such that pituitary sensitivity to LH-RH is increased twofold by the time the LH surge is initiated. In addition, oestradiol causes a transitory inhibition of LH-RH release as shown by the fact that serum LH concentrations remained low during the interval from injection of oestradiol until the beginning of the LH surge despite the fact that pituitary sensitivity to LH-RH is increased at this time. Depletion of a readily releasable pool of pituitary LH may be the mechanism by which the LH surge is terminated.


1974 ◽  
Vol 76 (3) ◽  
pp. 431-437 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Morishita ◽  
H. Mitani ◽  
Y. Masuda ◽  
K. Higuchi ◽  
M. Tomioka ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The effect of synthetic luteinizing hormone releasing hormone (LH-RH) on ovulation has been studied during the oestrous cycle in adult female rats. Ovulation could be induced by the administration of 1 μg synthetic LH-RH at 1:00 a. m. on the day of dioestrus II (lights on from 10:00 p.m. to 10:00 a.m.). At 1:00 a.m. on the day of dioestrus II, the average volume of the largest follicles reached a volume of 83 × 106 μm3 and was three fifth of the volume of that at 6:00 a. m. on the day of pro-oestrus (critical period). These findings suggest that the luteinizing hormone (LH) content in the pituitary gland during the early period of dioestrus II is sufficient to induce ovulation and that the follicles that reach to three fifth of the volume at the critical period are capable of ovulating providing endogenous ovulatory LH released.


1979 ◽  
Vol 81 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. SANDOW ◽  
W. KÖNIG

The minimal structural requirements for gonadotrophin releasing activity were studied with fragments of a highly active analogue of luteinizing hormone releasing hormone (LH-RH), [d-Ser(But)6]LH-RH(1–9)nonapeptide-ethylamide (Hoe 766). All fragments are related to the C-terminal structure of LH-RH and have increased enzyme stability. Ovulation in phenobarbitone-blocked rats was induced with a median effective dose/rat, of 1·9 μg of the (3–9)-heptapeptide, Trp-Ser-Tyr-d-Ser(But)-Leu-Arg-Pro-ethylamide and 6·8, 18·0 and 38·3 μg for the (4–9), (5–9) and (6–9) fragments respectively. The (3–9)-heptapeptide and (4–9)-hexapeptide induced release of LH and FSH in phenobarbitone-blocked rats with a ratio similar to that of LH-RH. Degradation of LH-RH by enzyme preparations of liver, kidney and hypothalamic or anterior pituitary tissue was not modified by addition of the (3–9)-heptapeptide fragment. The organ distribution of the 125I-labelled (3–9)-heptapeptide fragments was similar to LH-RH, but not to Hoe 766. The peptide accumulated in liver and kidney, but was eliminated from the anterior pituitary gland 15 min after i.v. injection, whereas Hoe 766 showed progressive accumulation in the pituitary gland (tissue: plasma ratio = 6·6 after 60 min). In contrast to C-terminal fragments of LH-RH, the corresponding fragments of nonapeptide analogues retained significant biological activity, and the minimal structural requirements for LH release may be related to the C-terminal sequence of LH-RH.


1976 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. A. SCHUILING ◽  
H. P. GNODDE

SUMMARY Continuous infusions of luteinizing hormone releasing hormone (LH-RH) into phenobarbitone-treated long-term ovariectomized rats, resulted in patterns of LH secretion which were determined by the blood LH-RH concentration. Infusions of 52 ng LH-RH/h caused steadily increasing plasma LH levels, which stabilized after about 2 h of infusion and were maintained for the rest of the experiment (9 h). A similar course of plasma LH concentration was observed as a result of infusions of 104 ng LH-RH/h, though in this case LH concentrations reached higher levels than those induced by infusion of 52 ng LH-RH/h. Higher rates of LH-RH infusion (208 and 416 ng/h), however, induced clear-cut LH peaks, which reached their maximal plasma values after 2–3 h of infusion and then declined again until, at the end of the experiment, they were only slightly higher than the LH levels induced by infusions of 52 ng LH-RH/h. A similar series of LH-RH infusions given to ovariectomized rats pretreated with oestradiol benzoate during 3 days (the rats were injected daily with 7 μg steroid), produced a highly augmented response of the pituitary gland, but all LH-RH concentrations infused induced rather sharp LH peaks, reaching their maximum after 2–3 h of infusion. After 5 h of infusion the descending parts of all these peaks appeared to converge. In both control and oestradiol benzoate-pretreated rats there appeared to be a linear relationship between the logarithm of the blood LH-RH concentration and the maximal plasma LH values on one hand, and the amount of LH secreted during the first 5 h of infusion on the other. Furthermore, it appeared that the longer the period of oestrogen action, the more the response of the pituitary gland to a certain dose of LH-RH was enhanced.


1977 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. A. SCHUILING ◽  
H. P. GNODDE

SUMMARY Oestrogen-induced changes in luteinizing hormone secretion, caused by continuous infusions of luteinizing hormone releasing hormone (LH-RH), appear to depend on the duration of exposure of the pituitary gland to the releasing hormone. The initial oestrogen-induced depression of the potential response of the pituitary gland to LH-RH, which always seems to occur, does not necessarily turn into an enhancement of this potential response. It is suggested that this may be due to the fact that the response of the pituitary gland to LH-RH infusions is a continuously changing parameter influenced by oestrogen.


1982 ◽  
Vol 94 (2) ◽  
pp. 283-287 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Fink ◽  
W. J. Sheward ◽  
H. M. Charlton

We have investigated the LH response to LH releasing hormone (LH-RH) in female hypogonadal (hpg) mice in which the hypothalamus contains no LH-RH and the pituitary gland contains significantly less LH than in normal mice. Both the releasing action and the priming effect of LH-RH were not significantly different in hpg compared with normal mice. Raised plasma concentrations of oestradiol-17β reduced pituitary responsiveness to LH-RH in normal but not in hpg mice. These results show that in the mouse neither longterm exposure to normal levels of LH-RH nor a normal pituitary content of LH are necessary for either the releasing or the priming action of LH-RH.


1979 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. D. SWIFT ◽  
D. B. CRIGHTON

The abilities of three nonapeptide analogues of synthetic luteinizing hormone releasing hormone (LH-RH) to release luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) in anoestrous and cyclic ewes were examined, as were their elimination from the plasma in vivo and degradation by extracts of the hypothalamus, anterior pituitary gland, lung, kidney, liver and plasma in vitro. In all cases, comparisons were made with synthetic LH-RH. When injected i.v. into mature ewes as a single dose, the potencies of the analogues were graded and Des Gly-NH210 LH-RH ethylamide was found to be the least potent. It was not possible to demonstrate any significant increase in the potency of this analogue over LH-RH, although a trend was apparent with each parameter examined. [d-Ser(But)6] Des Gly-NH210 LH-RH ethylamide had the greatest potency. There were no differences between the responses of anoestrous ewes and those of ewes treated on day 10 of the oestrous cycle. None of the analogues had a rate of elimination from the plasma different from that of LH-RH during either the first or the second components of the biphasic disappearance curve. The incubation of LH-RH with tissue extracts showed that extracts of the hypothalamus and anterior pituitary gland degraded LH-RH to a similar extent. Both the hypothalamic and anterior pituitary gland extracts degraded more LH-RH than did lung extract, which in turn destroyed more LH-RH than did extracts of kidney or liver tissue. The degradative abilities of kidney and liver extracts did not differ from each other. Plasma failed to degrade LH-RH or the analogues. Although LH-RH was rapidly destroyed by hypothalamic extract in vitro, of the analogues, only Des Gly-NH210 LH-RH ethylamide was degraded. The anterior pituitary gland and kidney extracts failed to degrade [d-Ser6] Des Gly-NH210 LH-RH ethylamide and [d-Ser(But)6] Des Gly-NH210 LH-RH ethylamide as rapidly as LH-RH. Extracts of liver and lung were incapable of catabolizing any of the analogues. There was an inverse correlation between the LH- and FSH-releasing potency of an analogue and its rate of degradation by anterior pituitary gland extract. The slower rates of catabolism of certain analogues of LH-RH by the anterior pituitary gland may explain their increased LH- and FSH-releasing potency.


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