The effect of gonadotrophin surge-inhibiting factor on the self-priming action of gonadotrophin-releasing hormone in female rats in vitro

1992 ◽  
Vol 134 (3) ◽  
pp. 427-436 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. W. Koppenaal ◽  
A. M. I. Tijssen ◽  
J. de Koning

ABSTRACT The present study was designed to explore further the functional antagonism between gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) and the ovarian factor, gonadotrophin surge-inhibiting factor (GnSIF). In all experiments, pituitary tissue was exposed to various amounts of GnSIF, after which the self-priming action of GnRH was studied. GnSIF was increased in vivo by FSH treatment and increased in vitro by adding various amounts of follicular fluid (FF) to cultured pituitary cells. Treatment with 3 or 10 IU FSH suppressed the initial LH response and delayed the maximally primed LH response to GnRH. Treatment with FSH was only effective in intact rats on days 1 and 2 of dioestrus. There was no difference in the rate of maximal LH release irrespective of treatment with either FSH or saline. Since FSH treatment was ineffective in long-term ovariectomized rats, it was concluded that the initial suppressive effect of FSH on LH release was mediated by GnSIF. Cycloheximide prevented the self-priming action of GnRH by inhibiting GnRH-induced protein synthesis. The initial protein synthesis-independent GnRH-stimulated LH release, which was already suppressed by FSH treatment, remained suppressed in the presence of cycloheximide. Pretreatment with GnRH in vivo increased the protein synthesis-independent GnRH-induced LH release during subsequent incubation of the glands. This increase did not occur after FSH treatment. Pituitary cells, cultured for 20 h in medium only, failed to elicit the self-priming effect of GnRH. Preincubation with FF maintained the self-priming effect. This was independent of the concomitant presence of various amounts of oestradiol. Preincubation with bovine FF suppressed the initial GnRH-stimulated LH release dose-dependently. Porcine FF, human FF and testicular extract suppressed the release of LH in a similar way. It was concluded that GnSIF suppresses the initial LH response to continuous GnRH stimulation. Increased levels of GnSIF caused by FSH treatment also delayed the primed LH release. The mechanism of functional antagonism between GnSIF and GnRH could give rise to the occurrence of the phenomenon of GnRH self-priming. Journal of Endocrinology (1992) 134, 427–436

1990 ◽  
Vol 127 (1) ◽  
pp. 149-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Muttukrishna ◽  
P. G. Knight

ABSTRACT Primary cultures of ovine pituitary cells (from adult ewes) were used to investigate the actions of steroid-free bovine follicular fluid (bFF) and highly-purified Mr 32 000 bovine inhibin on basal and gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH)-induced release of FSH and LH. Residual cellular contents of each hormone were also determined allowing total gonadotrophin content/well to be calculated. As in rats, both crude and highly purified inhibin preparations promoted a dose (P < 0·001)- and time (P < 0·001)-dependent suppression of basal and GnRH-induced release of FSH as well as an inhibition of FSH synthesis, reflected by a fall in total FSH content/well. However, while neither inhibin preparation affected basal release of LH or total LH content/well, GnRH-induced LH release was significantly (P< 0·001) increased by the presence of either bFF (+ 75%) or highly-purified inhibin (+ 64%) in a dose- and time-dependent manner. This unexpected action of bFF on GnRH-induced LH release was abolished in the presence of 5 μl specific anti-inhibin serum, confirming that the response was indeed mediated by inhibin. Furthermore, neither oestradiol-17β (1 pmol/l–10 nmol/l) nor monomeric α-subunit of bovine inhibin (2·5–40 ng/ml) significantly affected basal or GnRH-induced release of LH. These in-vitro findings for the ewe lend support to a number of recent in-vivo observations and indicate that, in addition to its well-documented suppressive effect on the synthesis and secretion of FSH, inhibin may actually facilitate LH release in this species, in marked contrast to its action in the rat. Journal of Endocrinology (1990) 127, 149–159


1994 ◽  
Vol 140 (3) ◽  
pp. 483-493 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Muttukrishna ◽  
P G Knight

Abstract To investigate the extent to which the direct actions of inhibin, activin and oestradiol on pituitary output of FSH and LH are dependent on the presence of functional gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) receptors, we have compared the effects of these agents on cultured ovine pituitary cells derived from control and GnRH agonist-suppressed ewes. Chronic treatment with GnRH agonist reduced plasma LH and FSH levels (P<0·01) and abolished GnRH-induced release of LH and FSH both in vivo and in vitro. As expected, basal LH release and LH cell content in vitro were drastically reduced in GnRH agonist-suppressed cells (P<0·001). However, basal FSH release and FSH cell content were approximately twofold higher than in control cells (P<0·001). Irrespective of whether the cells had been desensitized to GnRH, inhibin and oestradiol were both found to suppress basal FSH release and FSH cell content in a dose-dependent fashion (P<0·001). Although inhibin had no effect on basal release of LH from control cells, it markedly enhanced GnRH-induced release (P<0·001). In contrast, inhibin increased (P<0·001) basal LH release from GnRH agonist-suppressed cells (which were unresponsive to the GnRH challenge). Inhibin had no overall effect on total LH content/well for either control or GnRH agonist-suppressed cells. Treatment with oestradiol, on the other hand, reduced total LH content/well, an effect which was more pronounced with GnRH agonist-suppressed cells (−44%; P<0·001) than with control cells (−14%, P<0·01). Whereas in control cells activin had no significant effect on any aspect of FSH production examined, in GnRH agonist-treated cells activin enhanced basal FSH release, residual cell content and total FSH content/well (P<0·001). Altering GnRH receptor status also modified the LH response to activin. With control cells activin increased basal release (P<0·001), decreased GnRH-induced release (P<0·001) and increased total LH content/well (P<0·001). With GnRH agonist-treated cells, however, activin had a uniform inhibitory effect on each aspect of LH production examined (P<0·001 in each case). It was concluded that desensitization of ovine gonadotrophs to GnRH by chronic agonist treatment results in a paradoxical enhancement of FSH output in vitro but has little effect on the responsiveness of the cells (in terms of gonadotrophin release and content) to either inhibin or oestradiol. In contrast, GnRH agonist treatment leads to qualitative changes in cellular reponsiveness to activin. Journal of Endocrinology (1994) 140, 483–493


1983 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 186-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noboru Fujihara ◽  
Masataka Shiino

The effect of thyrotrophin-releasing hormone (TRH, 10−7 M) on luteinizing hormone (LH) release from rat anterior pituitary cells was examined using organ and primary cell culture. The addition of TRH to the culture medium resulted in a slightly enhanced release of LH from the cultured pituitary tissues. However, the amount of LH release stimulated by TRH was not greater than that produced by luteinizing hormone – releasing hormone (LH–RH, 10−7 M). Actinomycin D (2 × 10−5 M) and cycloheximide (10−4 M) had an inhibitory effect on the action of TRH on LH release. The inability of TRH to elicit gonadotrophin release from the anterior pituitary glands in vivo may partly be due to physiological inhibition of its action by other hypothalamic factor(s).


1995 ◽  
Vol 145 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
J J Evans ◽  
S J Hurd ◽  
D R Mason

Abstract Although GnRH is believed to be the primary secretagogue for LH, oxytocin has also been shown to stimulate LH release from the anterior pituitary. We investigated the possibility that the two secretagogues interact in the modulation of LH release. Anterior pituitaries were removed from adult female rats at pro-oestrus, and tissue pieces were pre-incubated in oxytocin for 3 h prior to being stimulated with 15 min pulses of GnRH. LH output over the 1 h period from the beginning of the GnRH pulse was determined. Control incubations were carried out in the absence of oxytocin, and background secretory activities without GnRH stimulation were also determined. Tissue which was pre-exposed to oxytocin (0·012–1·25 μm) had an increased LH response to GnRH (1·25 nm). The increase was larger than the sum of the LH outputs obtained with oxytocin and GnRH separately, revealing that oxytocin synergistically enhanced LH secretion elicited by GnRH (P<0·05; ANOVA). If stimulation by GnRH was delayed for 2 h after incubation with oxytocin, an increase in LH secretion was still observed, indicating that oxytocin-induced modulation did not rapidly disappear. Oxytocin pre-incubation was observed to result in an increase of maximal GnRH-induced LH output (P<0·001; t-test), as well as an increase of intermediate responses. The LH response of the anterior pituitary to subsequent pulses of GnRH was modified by the self-priming process. The effect of oxytocin pretreatment on the response of primed tissue to GnRH was also investigated. It was found that pre-incubation in oxytocin also enhanced the LH response of primed tissue to GnRH. The study has revealed that oxytocin increases the LH output of anterior pituitary tissue in response to GnRH. The effect occurs on both GnRH-primed and unprimed tissues. The results suggest that oxytocin has the potential to regulate the dynamics of the pro-oestrous LH surge. Journal of Endocrinology (1995) 145, 113–119


1992 ◽  
Vol 132 (2) ◽  
pp. 277-283 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Robinson ◽  
J. J. Evans ◽  
K. J. Catt

ABSTRACT Gonadotrophin-releasing activity of oxytocin has previously been demonstrated in vitro and in vivo. This study investigated whether oxytocin is also able to induce LH accumulation in pituitary cells. Following trypsin digestion and mechanical dispersion, pituitary cells from female rats were incubated with oxytocin (100 nmol/l) for 24 h. LH release stimulated by oxytocin increased (P < 0·001) progressively during the incubation indicating a different secretory pattern from the more rapid but less sustained secretion stimulated by gonadotrophin-releasing hormone. Oxytocin also enhanced (P < 0·01) total LH accumulation in the incubation system (released plus cell contents) which was apparent after 7–11 h of stimulation. The release of LH stimulated by oxytocin was reduced by the protein synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide (10 μmol/l). However, cycloheximide did not completely block oxytocin-stimulated LH release; there remained some LH release above that seen in non-stimulated controls (P < 0·01) revealing the presence of a cycloheximide-resistant component in the release mechanism. Furthermore, accumulation of total LH in 24 h incubations was suppressed (P < 0·01) by cycloheximide. The advancement in LH release which oxytocin has been shown to induce in vivo in pro-oestrous rats was accompanied by an early reduction of pituitary LH stores. However, the fall normally observed in LH content during the surge was markedly attenuated by the oxytocin treatment. Thus, loss of pituitary LH stores was less in oxytocin-treated rats than in saline-treated controls, even though net LH release into plasma was increased. Therefore, oxytocin stimulated the replenishment of LH stores. Although the mechanism(s) remains to be defined and the relationships between in-vitro and in-vivo results are as yet uncharacterized, the present study demonstrates that oxytocin treatment stimulates LH production in both dispersed cells and intact pituitaries in situ. Journal of Endocrinology (1992) 132, 277–283


1998 ◽  
Vol 159 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
U Fingscheidt ◽  
GF Weinbauer ◽  
HL Fehm ◽  
E Nieschlag

The effects of bovine inhibin, testosterone and GnRH on gonadotrophin secretion by primate pituitary cells were characterized in vitro using pituitaries from six male rhesus monkeys and one male cynomolgus monkey. The effect of inhibin on basal secretion of FSH and LH was investigated. Dose-response curves in monkeys and rats were compared. GnRH dose-response curves in the presence and absence of testosterone were also examined in monkeys. In monkey pituitary cells, testosterone at a concentration of 10(-7) M had no effect on LH or FSH secretion. Inhibin suppressed FSH secretion to 50.8% of that of controls with no effect on LH. In rats, FSH secretion was suppressed to 45.0% of that of controls with a median effective dose (ED50, 95% range) of 1.298 (1.064-1.584) U/ml, compared with 1.024 (0.7204-1.455) U/ml in monkeys. In monkey pituitary cells, LH release was stimulated 9.9-fold and FSH 3.3-fold by GnRH. Testosterone had no effect on basal or GnRH-stimulated gonadotrophin release. These results support the view that the pituitary is not the target organ for the negative feedback action of testosterone in the male. In vitro, inhibin is the major regulator of FSH secretion at the pituitary level.


1994 ◽  
Vol 141 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
F J Thomson ◽  
M S Johnson ◽  
R Mitchell ◽  
B Wolbers

Abstract The phospholipase A2 (PLA2) inhibitors, quinacrine, p-bromophenacyl bromide, ONO-RS-082, aristolochic acid and chloracysine blocked the priming effect of LHRH, but not acute LHRH-induced gonadotrophin release measured in anterior pituitary pieces in pro-oestrous rats in vitro. These results suggest that the intracellular mechanisms underlying LHRH priming are distinct from those which mediate LH release in the present circumstances in that they involve PLA2. Furthermore, neither LHRH-induced LH release from preprimed tissue nor Ca2+-induced LH release were attenuated by quinacrine, indicating that this inhibitor does not interfere with the general Ca2+-dependent secretory apparatus of the gonadotroph and that the critical period for its action is in the induction of priming. LHRH induced the release of [3H]arachidonic acid ([3H]AA) from [3H]AA-prelabelled anterior pituitary tissue from pro-oestrous rats; a response which was sensitive to inhibitors of PLA2, of protein kinase C (PKC) and of protein synthesis. Activation of PKC also resulted in [3H]AA release which was inhibited with exactly the same pharmacological profile as the response to LHRH. Both gonadotrophin secretion and [3H]AA release responses to LHRH and to phorbol ester varied in parallel during the oestrous cycle and in ovariectomized/oestradiol-17β-replaced animals, as did their sensitivity to quinacrine and the protein synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide. These results indicate that LHRH priming is dependent on a hormonally regulated cascade involving a distinct form of PKC acting through a protein synthesis-dependent step to release AA by means of PLA2 activity. The priming effect was mimicked (at least in part) by conditioning preincubation with AA, confirming the functional relevance of this signalling cascade. Results using standard inhibitors of lipoxygenase/epoxygenase pathways were equivocal as to whether these pathways were critically involved, whilst cyclo-oxygenase inhibitors were completely without effect. The steps downstream from AA (and its possible metabolites) by which stimulus–secretion coupling is up-regulated in priming remain to be clarified. Journal of Endocrinology (1994) 141, 15–31


1990 ◽  
Vol 125 (3) ◽  
pp. 425-432 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Robinson ◽  
J. J. Evans

ABSTRACT We previously demonstrated that oxytocin stimulates LH release from rat pituitary cells in vitro and advances follicular development and ovulation in mice in vivo. This study reports an investigation of rat LH levels following in-vivo administration of oxytocin. Injection of oxytocin (10 mIU/g, i.p.) to rats at 07.00, 08.00 and 09.00 h of pro-oestrus or at 09.00, 10.00 and 11.00 h of pro-oestrus advanced the onset of the LH surge (P<0.005) and attainment of peak concentrations of LH (P<0.02) in peripheral blood. On the other hand, the descending phase of the LH surge and the surge amplitude were not altered by oxytocin. Treatment at 05.00, 06.00 and 07.00 h of pro-oestrus or at 11.00, 12.00 and 13.00 h of pro-oestrus had no effect on the LH profile. A higher oxytocin dose (20 mIU/g) inhibited LH release when treatment was begun at 05.00, 07.00 or 09.00 h of pro-oestrus. A lower dose (5 mIU/g) was ineffective in altering LH concentrations. In addition, injections of oxytocin (10 mIU/g) at oestrus, metoestrus or dioestrus had no effect on the release of LH. Thus the efficacy of oxytocin in altering concentrations of LH was dose dependent and also critically affected by the day of the oestrous cycle and the time of pro-oestrus. Removal of endogenous oxytocin activity by the use of an oxytocin receptor antagonist abolished the pro-oestrous LH surge, indicating that oxytocin is a vital physiological component of the LH-releasing mechanism in rats. The study provides unequivocal evidence that oxytocin induces LH release in vivo, but the manifestation of oxytocin activity is dependent upon conditions of exposure. Journal of Endocrinology (1990) 125, 425–432


1977 ◽  
Vol 75 (1) ◽  
pp. 155-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. J. M. C. PICKERING ◽  
G. FINK

Pituitary incubation studies were carried out which showed that in the rat luteinizing hormone releasing factor (LH-RF) can exert a priming effect on FSH secretion in vitro. It was found that, as for LH, the effect depends on protein synthesis. The priming effect of LH-RF with respect to FSH could also be demonstrated in vivo; however, the effect was less dramatic than for LH.


1988 ◽  
Vol 119 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. G. Farnworth ◽  
D. M. Robertson ◽  
D. M. de Kretser ◽  
H. G. Burger

ABSTRACT The effects of 31 kDa bovine inhibin on the release of FSH and LH stimulated by gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) or its agonist analogue buserelin have been studied using 5-day-old cultures of pituitary cells prepared from adult male Sprague–Dawley rats. Exposure of cultures to increasing concentrations of inhibin for 3 days before and during a 4-h stimulation with GnRH resulted in the progressive suppression of both basal and stimulated gonadotrophin release. At the highest inhibin concentrations FSH release was abolished (inhibin median inhibitory concentration (IC50) = 0·15 U/ml) whereas LH release was suppressed by 75% (IC50 = 0·93 U/ml). To correct for the reduced size of the FSH pool resulting from inhibin pretreatment, the amount of FSH or LH released by an agonist was expressed as a proportion of the total hormone available for release in each case. Following this adjustment, concentrations of inhibin producing maximal effects increased the GnRH median effective concentration for FSH release 4·1-fold and that for LH release 2·2-fold, with inhibin IC50 values of 0·45 and 0·32 U/ml respectively. Inhibin also suppressed the maximum proportion of both FSH and LH that excess GnRH released in 4 h by 36%, with IC50 values of 0·53 and 0·76 U/ml respectively. These effects were not changed by reduction of the inhibin pretreatment period from 3 days to 1 day or by exclusion of inhibin during the stimulation period. After a 3-day pretreatment, inhibin inhibited gonadotrophin release by buserelin less effectively than that by GnRH, but the pattern of antagonism was the same. The results show that purified bovine inhibin antagonizes the release of both FSH and LH stimulated by either GnRH or buserelin in vitro by reducing the apparent potency of GnRH agonists and by decreasing the proportion of total available gonadotrophin that can be released by an excess of GnRH agonist. Higher concentrations of inhibin are required for these common actions against stimulated release of FSH and LH than for the inhibition of FSH tonic synthesis/basal release, indicating one or more secondary sites of inhibin action in addition to its primary selective action to suppress the constitutive synthesis of FSH. J. Endocr. (1988) 119, 233–241


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