Cyproheptadine and desmethylcyproheptadine directly inhibit the release of adrenocorticotrophin and β-lipotrophin/β-endorphin activity from the neurointermediate lobe of the rat pituitary gland

1983 ◽  
Vol 96 (3) ◽  
pp. 395-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. W. J. Lamberts ◽  
E. G. Bons ◽  
P. Uitterlinden ◽  
W. H. Hackeng

Cyproheptadine and its metabolite desmethylcyproheptadine were shown to suppress directly the release of adrenocorticotrophin (ACTH) and β-lipotrophin/β-endorphin activity from the neurointermediate lobe of the pituitary gland incubated in vitro. Neither compound affected the release of ACTH from the anterior pituitary gland. Serotonin stimulated the release of ACTH and β-lipotrophin/β-endorphin activity from the neurointermediate lobe, but did not influence the (desmethyl)cyproheptadine-mediated inhibition of hormone release. These results indicate that serotonin and cyproheptadine affect hormone release by the neurointermediate lobe by a direct action. The effect of cyproheptadine, however, might not be exerted by a serotonin receptor.

1989 ◽  
Vol 120 (5) ◽  
pp. 682-688 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Morel ◽  
J.-G. Chabot ◽  
A. Enjalbert ◽  
M. Priam ◽  
P. M. Dubois

Abstract. Classic concepts of calcitonin (CT) function have focused on the effects of CT on calcium homeostasis. More recently CT actions on brain and pituitary have been investigated. In order to evaluate the effects of CT on the anterior pituitary gland we studied the action(s) of CT in vitro and visualized endogenous CT in adult male rat pituitary gland by immunocytochemistry on ultrathin sections obtained by cryoultramicomy. In vitro study using dispersed anterior pituitary cells indicated that CT stimulated the secretion of PRL, whereas the secretion of GH, TSH and LH was not affected. CT-like immunoreactivity was observed in lactotropes only. The other pituitary cell types were not immunoreactive. In lactotropes, immunostaining was observed in the cytoplasm and in the nucleus. In the cytoplasm, CT-like immunoreactivity was visuzalized in the cytoplasmic matrix and in the secretory granules. In the nucleus, immunostaining was distributed primarly in the euchromatin, in the vincinity of heterochromatin region. CT-like immunoreactivity was also observed at the plasma membrane but was only scarce. No reaction product was found when anti-CT serum pre-incubated with CT was used. In conclusion, these results bring evidence for a direct action of CT on lactotrope regulation in vitro as well as in intact animals.


1984 ◽  
Vol 100 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. A. Nicholson ◽  
T. E. Adrian ◽  
B. Gillham ◽  
M. T. Jones ◽  
S. R. Bloom

ABSTRACT The effect of six hypothalamic peptides on the basal release of ACTH and that induced by arginine vasopressin (AVP) or by ovine corticotrophin releasing factor (oCRF) from fragments of the rat anterior pituitary gland incubated in vitro was investigated. Dose–response curves to AVP and to oCRF were obtained, and the response to a low dose of oCRF was potentiated by a low dose of AVP. Basal release of ACTH was not affected by any of the peptides in concentrations in the range 10−12 to 10−6 mol/l, and only substance P (SP) and somatostatin (SRIF) inhibited significantly the response to oCRF in a dose-related manner. The responses to a range of doses of oCRF or AVP were reduced by 10−8 and 10 − 6 mol SP or SRIF/1, and to a greater extent by the higher dose. Except in the case of 10−6 mol SRIF/1 on the response to AVP, the response was not further diminished by preincubation of the tissue with the peptide before the stimulating agent was added. The inhibition of the responses to AVP or oCRF by 10−9 mol SP/1 was not potentiated by its combination with either 5 × 10−10 or 10−8 mol SRIF/1; the inhibitory effects were merely additive. The results suggest that although SRIF and SP are able to modulate the release of ACTH from the anterior pituitary gland, they do so only at a high concentration. In the case of SRIF these concentrations are several orders of magnitude higher than those reported to be present in the hypophysial portal blood and therefore a physiological role for this peptide in the control of ACTH secretion is unlikely. J. Endocr. (1984) 100, 219–226


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.


1984 ◽  
Vol 100 (3) ◽  
pp. 271-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. K. Hulse ◽  
G. J. Coleman ◽  
D. L. Copolov ◽  
J. A. Clements

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was twofold: (1) to document changes in levels of immunoreactive β-endorphin (Ir-β-EP) in the hypothalamus, anterior pituitary gland, neurointermediate lobe and plasma during the oestrous cycle of the rat and (2) to investigate stress-induced changes in plasma Ir-β-EP at different stages of the oestrous cycle. Evidence was found that Ir-β-EP levels in the hypothalamus, anterior pituitary gland and plasma are not constant during the oestrous cycle and that the Ir-β-EP response to stress is a function of the phase of the oestrous cycle at which stress is applied. It is suggested that fluctuations in ovarian hormones may influence oestrous Ir-β-EP levels both under normal conditions and after exposure to stress. J. Endocr. (1984) 100, 271–275


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.


1985 ◽  
Vol 106 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Knepel ◽  
D. Nutto ◽  
M. Vlaskovska ◽  
Ch. Kittel

ABSTRACT The present study was performed to examine the effect of the cyclo-oxygenase inhibitor, indomethacin, and that of various prostaglandins on the release of vasopressin and β-endorphin-like immunoreactivity (β-EI) from the rat neurointermediate lobe of the hypophysis, which was superfused in vitro. Indomethacin (2·8 and 28 μmol/l) changed neither basal secretion of vasopressin nor that evoked by electrical stimulation, whereas the resting release of β-EI was enhanced by indomethacin (28 μmol/l). Prostaglandin (PG) E2 did not influence resting release of vasopressin but markedly inhibited (by about 50%) electrically induced release of vasopressin (least effective concentration: 300 nmol/l) as well as spontaneous secretion of β-EI (least effective concentration: 100 nmol/l) in the presence of indomethacin (28 μmol/l). Prostaglandin F2α (5 μmol/l) also inhibited the evoked release of vasopressin, whereas PGD2 (5 μmol/l) did not. Prostaglandin F2α (5 μmol/l), D2 and I2 (1·5 μmol/l each) produced no effects on β-EI release. As observed in the neurohypophysis, PGE2 inhibited the electrically induced release of vasopressin from the medial basal hypothalamus in vitro. We conclude that prostaglandins (especially PGE2) can inhibit (1) the stimulated release of vasopressin when acting on vasopressin-containing nerve terminals of either neurosecretory system (neurohypophysis, median eminence region), and (2) the secretion of β-EI and, as can be inferred, α-MSH, by a direct action on intermediate lobe cells. J. Endocr. (1985) 106, 189–195


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