Bovine neurophysin-II stimulates prolactin release without involvement of dopaminergic prolactin-release inhibiting factor receptor in the estradiol-primed male rat

Neurophysins have been considered to be physiologically inert carrier proteins for the neurohypophysial hormones, oxytocin and vasopressin. We have observed that bovine neurophysin-II indirectly stimulates prolactin release in estradiol-primed male rats. The release of prolactin is regulated by a dual hypothalamic control system, the prolactin-release-inhibiting factor and the prolactin-releasing factor. We have tried to clarify whether neurophysin-II is acting through stimulation of prolactin-releasing factor by eliminating the possibility of dopaminergic prolactin release-inhibiting factor release. Male rats were primed with estradiol and functional dopaminergic prolactin release-inhibiting factor receptors were completely blocked by pretreatment with a large dose of pimozide (3 mg/kg), a dopaminergic receptor blocking agent. The neurophysin-II stimulated prolactin release in the rats which did not have any functional dopaminergic prolactin release-inhibiting factor receptors suggesting that neurophysin-II likely initiates a chain of events which eventually stimulates prolactin-releasing factor release since the possibility of involvement of the dopaminergic prolactin release-inhibiting factor system is eliminated. Opioids are known to be one of a chain of events which transmit external stress into a stimulation of prolactin release. Naloxone, a mu-receptor antagonist, was injected 20 min before neurophysin-II administration into rats which were primed with estradiol and pretreated with pimozide (3 mg/kg), but the naloxone administration did not block the prolactin release stimulated by neurophysin-II injection. This result indicates that opioids are not one of the chain of events between initiation of stimulation by neurophysin-II and prolactin release.

Immunocytochemical localization in rat brain of a prolactin release-inhibiting sequence of gonadotropin-releasing hormone prohormone

The structure of a precursor protein for gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) of relative molecular mass 10,000 has recently been deduced from cloned complementary DNA sequences derived from human placental messenger RNA. The 56-amino-acid peptide representing residues 14-69 of this prohormone exhibits potent inhibition of prolactin secretion. To investigate whether the same prohormone is synthesized in mammalian brain and describe the anatomical distribution of the prolactin-inhibiting region of this molecule, we have generated antiserum to a synthetic peptide containing residues 40-53 of the human placental precursor. We report here that a substance recognized by this antibody is present in GnRH-containing neurones of the rat brain and appears to coexist with GnRH in secretory granules of nerve terminals in the median eminence. These results indicate homology between hypothalamic and placental prohormones for GnRH and are consistent with the suggestion elsewhere in this issue that a prolactin-inhibiting factor (PIF) is generated from this prohormone and cosecreted with GnRH by nerve terminals in the median eminence.

[The behavior of the human hypophyseal tumor in vitro. An analysis of tumor biology in 51 consecutive operated cases]

The in vitro behaviour of 51 consecutively operated cases was analyzed. Clinically, 18 tumours secreted GH, 15 had a concomitant secretion of GH and PRL, 10 secreted PRL, 3 secreted ACTH and 5 were clinically regarded as non-secreting. When using the organ culture technique with tissue in organotypic differentiation, hormone secretion (GH, PRL and ACTH) occurred during the whole 6 week period. Hormone secretion was correlated to weight in 74 specimens. A secretion rate of between 5000 and 55 000 pmol/mg wet weight/24 h of GH and 2500-7800 micrograms/mg wet weight/24 h of PRL occurred. Pituitary tumours clinically regarded as non-secreting showed a low secretion of GH (6-100 pmol/24 h/culture dish) and PRL (6,3-40 micrograms/24 h/culture dish). However, the hormone secretion rate in explants from these tumours rapidly decreased with time in vitro. No spontaneous degeneration of GH or PRL occurred during 2 h in vitro when the explant had been removed. In vivo irradiated tumours revealed a low secretion rate of GH, PRL and ACTH, respectively, when explanted to organ culture.

Effect of cyproheptadine on chlorpromazine stimulation of prolactin in women

In five normal women, the expected chlorpromazine-induced rise in serum prolactin was inhibited by pretreatment with a serotonin antagonist, cyproheptadine. This indicated that the serotoninergic system has an excitatory effect on the release of prolactin. When similar studies were done in nine women with hyperprolactinemia and galactorrhea, the administration of chlorpromazine did not consistently produce a rise in serum prolactin, and pretreatment with cyproheptadine did not have a predictable effect. In most cases, this chlorpromazine-induced reduction in the prolactin inhibitory factor could not further increase the secretion of prolactin, so that there was no rise to inhibit.

Amenorrhea-galactorrhea syndrome with craniopharyngioma

Two cases of craniopharyngioma presenting with amenorrhea-galactorrhea syndrome due to hyperprolactinemia are reported. After operation and irradiation, the tumor reduced markedly in size. Coincidental decrease in plasma prolactin level and restoration of menstruation seem to support the view that the hypothalamic prolactin inhibiting factor (PIF) had played an important role in hyperprolactinemia in these two patients.

[Advances on prolactin (author's transl)]

Prolactin has been lately singled-out among the pituitary hormones, and as such the object of considerable research in the past 15 years. The frequency of prolactin secreting adenomes is established now. The responsability of iatrogenic factors (neuroleptics, oral contraceptives) in some hyperprolactineamias is a known fact. The study of the inhibiting dopaminergic system was a landmark in the treatment of hyperprolactinaemia. During the recent Nice Congress, some issues remained unsettled on the physiological activities of prolactin. The matter is clearer when its comes to prolactin secretion. In equilibrium between inhibiting and stimulant factors, the secretion is controlled by the CNS, influenced by the hormonal environment, and its timing is the object of a retrocontrol. This is a very instructive pattern in endocrinology.

Dopaminergic control of prolactin secretion

A brief summary is given about present-day knowledge and views on the control of prolactin secretion in mammals. This is followed by the presentation of the evidence that dopamine is the inhibitory hypothalamic transducer controlling hormone release by prolactin cells. Most of the evidence is pharmacological in nature. It is only very recently that dopamine has been found in a meaningful concentration in the blood flowing from the median eminence to the pituitary. Although the dopamine concept of an inhibitory control of prolactin secretion seems quite satisfactory, the possibility of another unrelated inhibitory control system is not excluded.

Dissociation of growth hormone and prolactin response to levodopa during pyridoxine administration

500 mg of levodopa was administered orally to 8 normal subjects and induced an increase of growth hormone (GH) and a decrease of prolactin (PRL) secretion. The levodopa-induced GH release was inhibited by an intravenous infusion of pyridoxine; on the contrary, the PRL response to levodopa was enhanced by pyridoxine infusion. This dissociation of GH and PRL responses to levodopa during pyridoxine infusion appears to be mediated by peripheral acceleration of the conversion of levodopa to dopamine. Since dopamine does not penetrate the blood-brain barrier, the enhanced PRL decrease observed during pyridoxine infusion might be explained only on the basis of a mechanism of action exerted by dopamine on extra blood-brain barrier sites.

Localization of hypophysiotropic neurohormones by assay of sections from various brain areas

The results of studies of the localization of the hypothalamic hypophysiotropic factors based on their direct determination in sections or nuclear punches are described. Luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone was found in high concentrations in the median eminence-arcuate nucleus complex, in lower concentrations in the mediobasal zone of the preoptic area. In addition to these hypothalamic sites, it is present in all four periventricular organs, especially in the organum vasculosum laminae terminalis. Thyrotropin releasing hormone has a widespread distribution. High concentrations are in the median eminence, arcuate nucleus, dorsomedial nucleus, and anterior part of the ventromedial nucleus. Lower concentrations are in several other structures of the hypothalamus, preoptic area and septum, and low but measurable quantities are found in most of the structures of the brain. Somatostatin is also present in most structures of the central nervous system, with highest concentrations in the median eminence, arcuate nucleus, ventromedial nucleus and periventricular nucleus. There are indications that the ventromedial nucleus or its immediate vicinity contains growth hormone releasing factor. Prolactin releasing activity was present in the median eminence and mediobasal parts of the anterior hypothalamus, whereas prolactin inhibitory activity was in the dorsolateral parts of the anterior hypothalamus and/or preoptic area.

Further evidence on the role of the hypothalamic afferents on the estrogen-induced prolactin release

Serum prolactin (Prl) concentrations in ovariectomized rats were low without significant differences between morning and afternoon values. These levels were not affected by either frontal or caudal hypothalamic deafferentation. However, they increased after lesioning the hypothalamic median eminence (ME). Three days after the injection of 20 microgram estradiol benzoate (EB) into ovariectomized non-lesioned rats, a rise in serum Prl occurred in the afternoon but not in the morning. In animals with ME lesions estrogen enhanced both morning and afternoon values. The animals with caudal hypothalamic deafferentation and those which had undergone sham operation showed the same pattern as the normal animals. On the contrary, after estrogen treatment of rats with frontal hypothalamic deafferentation high serum Prl concentration during the morning and low levels in the afternoon were observed. It is concluded that estrogen effects on Prl secretion are in part mediated by frontal neural afferents to the hypothalamus. They would facilitate Prl inhibiting factor (PIF) secretion in the morning and inhibit PIF secretion in the afternoon.

Prolactin inhibiting activity of dopamine-free subcellular fractions from rat mediobasal hypothalamus

In order to check the hypothesis of an identity of dopamine (DA) and prolactin inhibiting activity (PIF), their subcellular distribution was studied in the mediobasal hypothalamus (MBH) and the striatum, which served as a control structure. PIF was tested both in vivo and on pituitary incubates. Fractions were also assayed after adsorption of their catecholamine content on alumina, as well as in presence of haloperidol or alpha-flupentixol, potent DA receptor inhibitors. In the MBH, PIF was evenly distributed in the 17,000 g supernatant (S2) and in the crude mitochondrial fraction (P2) which contains synaptosomes. PIF activity was completely removed by alumina adsorption of S2, but not of P2 in spite of an over 99.9% elimination of DA. In contrast, striatal PIF activity was detected only in P2, and disappeared completely upon alumina adsorption, thus indicating that, in this structure, it is entirely due to DA. Addition of haloperidol (10--5M) or alpha-flupentixol (10--6M) reduced PIF activity of crude MBH homogenates, but no longer affected it after alumina adsorption. Quantitative studies suggest that only half of the total MBH PIF activity is accounted for by DA. It is concluded that the MBH contains dopamine-free PIF, which, as already shown for several other neurohormones, is exclusively distributed in nerve-endings.

Prolactin secretion by metoclopramide in man

Six men and nine women were given intravenous injections of 2.5 mg of metoclopramide to assess its potential as a stimulus to prolactin release. Following the administration of metoclopramide, there was prompt increase in serum prolactin to a peak response of 38.2 +/- 3.9 ng/ml in men and 103 +/- 10.2 ng/ml in women. The prolactin response to metoclopramide in men was compared with the response to 400 mug of TRH in 10 men. The peak response after TRH was 22.4 +/- 2.2 ng/ml, which was significantly less than that observed after metoclopramide. Pretreatment with 500 mg of L-dopa suppressed the prolactin response to metoclopramide in 6 men to a mean response of 16.3 +/- 4.3 ng/ml. We have concluded that metoclopramide is a safe, reliable, and potent stimulus of prolactin secretion and exerts this effect by blocking dopamine receptors in the hypothalamus and decreasing prolactin inhibiting factor. It is free of side effects and is a useful alternative to chlorpromazine.

Prolactin stimulation test with perphenazine: an evaluation of plasma prolactin levels and pituitary secretory activity in the rat

Many investigations of the regulation of prolactin synthesis and release are based on single plasma prolactin determinations. The purpose of the present experiment was to ascertain whether groups of rats (i.e. young or adult, male or female animals, being either intact, gonadectomized or gonadectomized and treated with oestrone), differing in age and/or endocrine status, will react to a single dose of perphenazine by an acute release of pituitary prolactin in proportion to their initial plasma prolactin levels. No consistent relation existed between the classification of the twelve groups of rats into three categories of basal plasma prolactin levels (i.e. less than 20, 25-50, greater than 125 ng/ml) and their response to perphenazine. Even though all groups showed a highly significant increase of plasma prolactin levels the magnitude of the maximum prolactin response at 30 min varied greatly within the groups of one category and thus was not related to the initial prolactin levels. The effect of 14 days of oestrone treatment in increasing plasma prolactin levels in gonadectomized animals was greatest in young and adult male rats, less in young females and not significant in adult females. The results obtained after perphenazine treatment in the latter group made it clear that the effect of oestrogen treatment on prolactin release can be completely blocked by increasing synthesis and/or release of the prolactin-release inhibiting factor (PIF). Since perphenazine induces decrease of pituitary prolactin and a concomitant increase of plasma prolactin levels through lowered PIF-action, the positive effect of oestrogens on prolactin release (as observed in gonadectomized male and young female rats) apparently is caused by a different mode of action. The implications of these findings for the regulation of prolactin release, as affected by the endocrine status of the rat, is discussed. Moreover, comparison of prolactin lost from the pituitary and gained in the circulation of the experimental animals, with amounts of prolactin that were observed to disappear from plasma during the experiment, provided suggestive evidence that the capacity to synthesize and/or eliminate prolactin, after a sudden provoked release of the hormone, differed among the groups. The rates of synthesis by the pituitary, of release from the pituitary into the circulation as well as of elimination of the hormone from the circulation (equally involved in determing actual plasma levels) are thought, therefore, to be far more important for the elucidation of prolactin regulation than single plasma prolactin determinations.

Suppression of postpartum lactation with furosemide

A regimen of fursemide and moderate restriction of fluid intake was followed in 120 postpartum women to suppress lactation. The methods and results are presented, and possible mechanisms whereby furosemide may suppress lactation are discussed.

Thioridazine stimulates prolactin secretion in man

Thioridazine, unlike most other effective antipsychotic drugs, appears to be only a weak dopamine antagonist in various regions of the brain. We decided to test, indirectly, thioridazine's effects on another brain dopaminergic system, the tuberoinfundibular tract, which regulates prolactin secretion by stimulating hypothalamic secretion of prolactin-inhibiting factor. Chlorpromazine and several other phenothiazines have been shown to stimulate prolactin secretion. Five healthy men ingested 50 mg of chlorpromazine concentrate on one occasion, and 50 mg of thioridazine concentrate on another. Both drugs noticeably stimulated prolactin secretion within two hours. It is concluded that thioridazine is a potent dopamine antagonist in the tuberoinfundibular system, and it is suggested that this system's regulation of prolactin secretion may provide a useful method for studying antipsychotic drug effects in man.

Release of corticotrophin releasing factor and other hypophysiotropic substances from isolated nerve-endings (synaptosomes)

Synaptosomes isolated from the sheep and the rat hypothalamus contain corticotrophin releasing factor, vasopressin, prolactin-release inhibiting factor and probably all of the substances which participate in the regulation of adenohypophysial function. Electrical field stimulation or depolarizing concentrations (55 mmol/l) of potassium ions cause a release of these factors from the incubated nerve-endings in a calcium-dependent manner. It is suggested that synaptosomes may provide a valuable approach to the study of mechanisms involved in hypothalamic neurosecretion in vitro.

Effect of ergoline derivative VUFB-6638 on the adenohypophysial prolactin concentration in rats

The compound VUFB-6638 (N-/D-6-methyl-8-isoergolin-I-yl/N'-N'-diethylurea hydrogen maleinate) was administered for four consecutive days to lactating rats in daily oral doses of 0.1, 1.0 and 2.0 mg/kg. The adenohypophysial prolactin concentration decreased by 34% to 68%, respectively. Moreover, this compound reduced or even completely suppressed the lactation. In view of the assumed relations between prolactin and breast carcinoma, a potential use of the drug is noted.