Effect of central injection of bradykinin and bradykinin potentiating factor upon release of anterior pituitary hormones in ovariectomized female rats

The effects of third ventricular (IVT) injection of 25 μg of bradykinin (BK) upon plasma levels of LH, FSH, TSH, GH and prolactin were investigated in conscious ovariectomized female rats bearing indwelling jugular cannulae. Some animals were pretreated with bradykinin potentiating factor (BPF). Intravenous administration of BK had no effect upon hormone levels. IVT injection of BK significantly depressed plasma prolactin levels at 15 and 30 min post-drug, with levels returning to control values by 60 min. Pretreatment of animals with BPF (75 μg/3 μl) prolonged the prolactin suppression induced by BK for up to two hours. Plasma LH, FSH, TSH and GH levels in BK-rats were not significantly different from those of saline-injected animals at any time point measured. Neither BPF alone nor in conjunction with BK had any effects upon plasma levels of TSH; however, BK plus BPF suppressed FSH concentrations at 75 min post-BPF, while BPF alone appeared to increase GH levels at 45 min. In vitro incubation of hemipituitaries with 0.083, 0.83 or 8.33 μg/ml BK had no effect upon the release of LH, TSH or prolactin compared to control values. However, the secretion of GH and FSH was suppressed by the lowest dose of BK tested. These results suggest that BK may play a physiological inhibitory role in the regulation of prolactin, which can be augmented by preventing its degradation, i.e. via BPF. The effect of the peptide seems to be mediated by the CNS since neither intravenous injection of BK nor in vitro incubation of pituitaries with the peptide modified prolactin release.     

Mise en évidence par immunofluorescence des cellules à hormones glycoprotidiques dans l'hypophyse d'un Rongeur d'Iran,Ellobius lutescens (Th): cellules gonadotropes et cellules thyréotropes

Résumé Les cellules à hormones glycoprotidiques (thyréotropes et gonadotropes) ont pu être indentifiées grâce aux réactions d'immunofluorescence qu'elles donnent avec des anticorps préparés à partir de LH et FSH ovine, de HCG et de PMSG, ainsi que de TSH bovine. Tandis que l'anticorps anti TSH brut révèle la totalité des cellules à hormones glycoprotidiques tout comme l'anticorps anti HCG, l'anticorps anti TSH saturé par LH ne laisse subsister la fluorescence qu'au niveau des grandes cellules anguleuses (Bleu Alcian et AF positives) qui fixent l'anticorps rendu ainsi spécifique pour TSH. Les deux autres types de cellules glycoprotidiques (PAS positives), qui présentent un dimorphisme très accentué, réagissent positivement avec l'anticorps anti LH ainsi qu'avec l'anticorps anti FSH: nous pouvons donc attribuer la fonction gonadotrope à ces deux catégories cellulaires sans qu'il soit cependant possible d'y distinguer les secrétions de type LH ou FSH.

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Immunofluorescent demonstration of gonadotrophic and thyrotrophic cells in the hypophysis of Ellobius lutescens (Th.), an iranian rodent

Summary Glycoprotein-containing cells (thyrotrophic and gonadotrophic cells) have been identified by immunofluorescence reactions, with antibodies to ovine LH and FSH, HCG, PMSG, and bovine TSH, in the hypophysis of the rodent Ellobius lutescens. Whereas raw anti-TSH antibody (as well as anti-HCG antibody) gives a positive reaction with all glycoprotein-containing cells, LH- saturated anti-TSH antibody fluoresces only at the site of large, angular cells (Alcian Blue- and Aldehyde Fuchsin-positive) which retain the antibody thus rendered TSH-specific. The two other types of glycoprotein (PAS-positive) cells, which exhibit a marked dimorphism, give a positive reaction with anti-LH and anti-FSH antibodies; thus we can attribute gonadotrophic functions of these two cell-types although we cannot discriminate between LH or FSH secretion.

     

Substantiation of Ovarian Effects of Leptin by Challenging a Mouse Model of Obesity/ Type 2 Diabetes

The goal of the current was to elucidate if treatment with gonadotrophins and leptin can circumvent infertility in obese mice and to establish whether reproductive effects of leptin are influenced at the hypothalamus-hypophysis or ovarian level by using a leptin deficient mouse model of obesity/type 2 diabetes (ob/ob) treated with leptin. The ovulatory response and the fertilization success were compared with the results obtained in ob/ob dams pretreated with a gonadotrophin-replacement therapy or in two groups (ob/ob and wild-type) of control non-pretreated females. The number of corpora lutea was significantly lower in control ob/ob mice than in wild-type dams. Treatment with gonadotrophin-replacement therapy did not increase significantly the ovulation rate in ob/ob, but the administration of leptin-replacement treatment allowed the authors to obtain a number of corpora lutea and oocytes/zygotes similar to those obtained in wild-type females. Furthermore, the leptin supply succeeded in producing fertilized zygotes, although in a lower number than found in the wild-type control. Thus, the hypogonadotrophic state in obese mice may be circumvented by the administration of a gonadotrophin-replacement therapy combined with a protocol for controlled ovarian stimulation, but fertile ovulations are only obtained after applying leptin-replacement therapy. Current results strongly support the existence of direct local effects of leptin on the ovary.     

Interactions of estrogen and insulin-like growth factor-I in the brain: molecular mechanisms and functional implications

In the brain, as in other tissues, estradiol interacts with growth factors. One of the growth factors that is involved in the neural actions of estradiol is insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I). Estradiol and IGF-I cooperate in the central nervous system to regulate neuronal development, neural plasticity, neuroendocrine events and the response of neural tissue to injury. The precise molecular mechanisms involved in these interactions are still not well understood. In the central nervous system there is abundant co-expression of estrogen receptors (ERs) and IGF-I receptors (IGF-IRs) in the same cells. Furthermore, the expression of estrogen receptors and IGF-I receptors in the brain is cross-regulated. In addition, using specific antibodies for the phosphorylated forms of extracellular-signal regulated kinase (ERK) 1 and ERK2 and Akt/protein kinase B (Akt/PKB) it has been shown that estradiol affects IGF-I signaling pathways in the brain. Estradiol treatment results in a dose-dependent increase in the phosphorylation of ERK and Akt/PKB in the brain of adult ovariectomized rats. In addition, estradiol and IGF-I have a synergistic effects on the activation of Akt/PKB in the adult rat brain. These findings suggest that estrogen effects in the brain may be mediated in part by the activation of the signaling pathways of the IGF-I receptor.     

左旋十八甲基炔诺酮对大鼠卵巢颗粒细胞和垂体细胞激素合成及分泌的影响

研究了左旋十八甲基炔诺酮对大鼠卵巢颗粒细胞和垂体细胞激素合成及分泌的直接作用。结果显示左旋十八甲基炔诺酮单独作用于无血清培养的颗粒细胞时,抑制雌二醇的合成,但刺激孕酮的分泌;在与促卵泡素合并处理时,颗粒细胞雌二醇、孕酮的分泌量随着左旋十八甲基炔诺酮浓度的增加而增加。利用促性腺激素生物测定方法证明大鼠整体用左旋十八甲基炔诺酮处理后,垂体中促卵泡素和促黄体生成素活性明显下降;同时外周血清中促卵泡素的活性亦下降。培养的垂体单纯用左旋十八甲基炔诺酮处理后,其培养液经生物测定呈现抑制颗粒细胞雌二醇和孕酮的分泌,促性腺激素释放激素可减弱左旋十八甲基炔诺酮的抑制作用。提示左旋十八甲基炔诺酮除通过垂体卵巢轴系起作用外,还能直接作用于卵巢。     

Acute response of testicular interstitial tissue in rats to the cytotoxic drug ethane dimethanesulphonate

Summary The cytotoxic effects of ethane dimethanesulphonate upon rat Leydig cells were examined ultrastructurally up to 3 days after treatment and related to changes in serum levels of gonadotrophins and testosterone. Six hours after administration of ethane dimethanesulphonate the usual tubulo-vesicular morphology of Leydig-cell smooth endoplasmic reticulum was converted to small vesicles and the Golgi apparatus showed focal hypertrophy into anastomosing tubules. These changes became more marked by 12 h with many Leydig cells exhibiting karyopyknosis and hyperchromatism. Necrotic Leydig cells were often engulfed by macrophages, the latter containing pyknotic fragments of Leydig cells within their cytoplasm. One day after administration, advanced necrosis of Leydig cells occurred, many of which were phagocytosed by macrophages, and on day 3, destruction of Leydig cells was complete resulting in their elimination from the interstitial tissue, which contained only loose connective tissue and macrophages. Structural alterations to the Leydig cells from 6–24 h was reflected by a significant reduction in serum testosterone levels which further declined to the limits of detection accompanying the abolition of Leydig cells on day 3. These changes were paralleled by a significant elevation of serum LH and FSH levels suggesting diminished feedback regulation of pituitary gonadotrophin secretion. The results indicate that ethane dimethanesulphonate is a rapidly acting Leydig cell toxin which may be a useful experimental tool in further studies of spermatogenic function mediated via Sertoli cell-Leydig cell interaction.