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Search for other papers by P. G. McDONALD in
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Search for other papers by CYNTHIA DOUGHTY in
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SUMMARY
Groups of neonatal female rats were treated once daily for the first 5 days of life with oil, 1 μg testosterone propionate, or 10 μg of one of the following androgens; androstenedione-enol-propionate, 19-hydroxytestosterone propionate, 5α-dihydrotestosterone propionate, 5α-androstanedioneenol-propionate, androsterone propionate, 5α,3α-androstenediol dipropionate, 5α,3β-androstanediol dipropionate. A final group was given 100 μg 5α,3β-androstanediol dipropionate as a single injection on day 1 of life. Only those androgens which are aromatizable were effective in preventing cyclicity whilst the 5α-reduced androgens were ineffective or only partially effective. All treatments significantly increased the ano-genital distance compared with oil-treated control animals. There were no clear relationships between aromatization and the effects on suppressing sexual behaviour after oestrogen and progesterone treatment. The results are discussed in terms of the role of aromatization in the hormonal control of hypothalamic differentiation.
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GH, as its name suggests, is obligatory for growth and development. It is, however, also involved in the processes of sexual differentiation and pubertal maturation and it participates in gonadal steroidogenesis, gametogenesis and ovulation. It also has additional roles in pregnancy and lactation. These actions may reflect direct endocrine actions of pituitary GH or be mediated by its induction of hepatic or local IGF-I production. However, as GH is also produced in gonadal, placental and mammary tissues, it may act in paracrine or autocrine ways to regulate local processes that are strategically regulated by pituitary GH. The concept that GH is an important modulator of female reproduction is the focus of this review.
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SUMMARY
A single injection of 20 μg chlorpromazine/g body weight into male rats 10 days after birth accelerated spermatogenesis when the animals were 45 days old; this was not observed in rats injected on days 1, 5, 8, 12 or 15 of life. When half an ovary was grafted into the eye of rats treated on day 10, they showed a higher incidence of luteinization than ovarian grafts in rats treated at any other age. Compared with animals surgically castrated at the same age, chlorpromazine did not act as by 'pharmacological castration', but induced some alteration in the brain which promoted higher secretion of luteinizing hormone, characteristic of the female pattern of gonadotrophin control, as demonstrated by accelerated spermatogenesis and a higher degree of luteinization. These results suggest that the sexual differentiation of the brain occurs on about the 10th day of postnatal life and can be blocked by chlorpromazine.
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SUMMARY
Implantation of oestradiol into adult rats of both sexes induced different patterns of LH secretion depending on the time at which gonadectomy or testosterone injection were performed. Castration 2 h after birth allowed an LH peak to occur daily at 18.00 h, but its amplitude was lower than that of adult gonadectomized female rats treated with oestradiol. Castration 24 h after birth elicited two kinds of response; a circadian discharge of LH lower than that of male rats gonadectomized 2 h after birth or a steady low level of LH. The LH rhythmicity induced by implantation of oestradiol was not seen after castration at 8 weeks of age. Neonatal administration of testosterone to female rats prevented the LH peak induced by oestradiol that was seen in adult ovariectomized rats. Neonatal or adult ovariectomy did not interfere with the rhythmical response of LH after implantation of oestradiol. Thus, it is concluded that sexual differentiation of the hypothalamus is primarily of masculine origin.
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Search for other papers by CORAL A. LAMARTINIERE in
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Assay of prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time and activity in the thrombotest in the rat showed that at 14 days of age, male and female rats had similar activities but female rats of 21–84 days of age had higher blood coagulation activities than male rats. Coagulation in mature female animals was not affected by the stage of the oestrous cycle. Hypophysectomy of prepubertal (21 days old) or adult (56 days old) male or female animals resulted in lower activity (prolongation of clotting time). A pituitary gland implanted ectopically under the kidney capsule of hypophysectomized animals resulted in shorter clotting times than in hypophysectomized animals not so treated. Pituitary glands from female donors were more effective in recipients of both sexes than those from males. These results demonstrate a sexual differentiation in activity of coagulation factors in the rat and suggest the involvement of the hypothalamic–hypophysial–gonadal axis in the regulation of blood coagulation.
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ABSTRACT
The trophic action of LH on Leydig cells involves the triggering of a number of cellular events including changes in protein synthesis. This latter change has led a number of workers to postulate an effect of LH on RNA synthesis. A direct action of LH on RNA synthesis, however, has been difficult to assess.
The aim of the present work was to analyse the effect of LH on RNA synthesis in vitro during sexual development. Studies were performed using purified Leydig cells from rats of 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 and 90 days of age. The results obtained show that basal uridine incorporation into RNA increases in an age-dependent manner in rats from 20 to 60 days of age and then remains unchanged until 90 days of age. A stimulatory effect of LH on RNA synthesis was clearly demonstrated only in the youngest rats (20 and 30 days old). In order to differentiate the effect of LH on different RNA populations, the RNA synthesized by immature and mature rats was analysed using a poly(U)-Sepharose column. In 20-day-old rats, LH stimulated both unbound and poly(A) RNA, although a more marked effect was clearly demonstrated on the latter. On the other hand, LH had an identical effect on both unbound and poly(A) RNA obtained from Leydig cells of 60-day-old rats.
This stimulatory effect of LH on RNA synthesis in Leydig cells from immature rats seemed specific, since effectors which act on interstitial cells, such as LH-releasing hormone, [Arg8]-vasopressin and FSH (which may act on macrophages) did not modify RNA synthesis. It is concluded that LH stimulates RNA synthesis in rat Leydig cells and that this effect is expressed differentially according to sexual maturity.
J. Endocr. (1986) 110, 551–556
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Search for other papers by V. H. DENENBERG in
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SUMMARY
The administration of a high dose of androgen on a single day to a neonatal female rat has been shown repeatedly to induce persistent vaginal cornification (PVC). However, this type of treatment does not parallel the continuous androgen secretion present in the male, and the high doses that have been used could represent a pharmacological and not a physiological effect. Experiments were carried out to determine the minimal effective dose of testosterone propionate (TP) needed to cause PVC when the androgen is administered to the neonatal rat for the first 10 days of life or as a long-acting ester. Injection of 1, 3 or 9 μg TP on days 1–10 of life in female rats induced PVC in adulthood. All three doses were found to be more effective than a testicular transplant on day 1. In female rats injected with low doses of TP twice daily for the first 10 days of life, PVC was shown between 90 and 100 days of life in 21 out of 22 animals given 0·5 μg TP/injection, and in eight out of 22 animals given 0·05 μg TP/injection. In an experiment where female rats were given a single injection of 0·1, 1·0 or 10·0 μg TP, or 0·1 or 1·0 μg testosterone cyclopentylpropionate (TC, a long-acting androgen) on the first day after birth, PVC occurred at 90–100 days of age in 15 of the 18 animals which were injected with 10 μg TP, in none of the 17 animals which were injected with 1 μg TP, and in 10 of 11 animals which were injected with 1 μg TC. The effects of all treatments on vaginal opening, first oestrus, ovarian weight, body weight and sexual behaviour are reported. The use and implications of low dose regimens are discussed in relation to the construction of an experimental model for the study of sexual differentiation.
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Ghrelin was recently isolated from the rat stomach as an endogenous ligand for the GH secretagogue receptor. Although it is well known that a large amount of ghrelin is produced in the gastrointestinal tract, developmental changes in ghrelin mRNA expression and differentiation of ghrelin-immunopositive (ghrelin-ip) and mRNA-expressing (ghrelin-ex) cells in the stomach have not been elucidated. In this study, we therefore investigated the changes in ghrelin mRNA expression levels and in the numbers of ghrelin-ip and -ex cells in the stomachs of 1- to 8-week-old male and female rats by Northern blot analysis, immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization. Northern blot analysis showed that the level of weak ghrelin mRNA expression was low in the postnatal period but then increased in a dimorphic pattern, i.e. transient stagnation at 4 weeks in the male rats and at 5 weeks in the female rats. The number of ghrelin-ip and ghrelin-ex cells also increased after birth, and more numerous ghrelin cells were found in female rats than in male rats, and this finding was confirmed by Northern blot analysis. Ghrelin-ip and -ex cells first appeared in the glandular base of the fundic gland and then they were found in the glandular base and the glandular neck at 3 weeks of age, suggesting that the distribution of ghrelin cells is extended from the glandular base to the glandular neck during the postneonatal development period. This is the first report on detailed changes in postneonatal ghrelin expression level and in the number of ghrelin cells in the rat stomach. The sexual dimorphism of ghrelin expression and ghrelin cell differentiation suggest that ghrelin plays an important physiological role in the stomach.
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ABSTRACT
Adult male Sprague–Dawley rats were hypophysectomized and connected to an automatic i.v. infusion system. The same daily dose of human GH (hGH) was given either as eight daily pulses (3-h intervals) to mimic the male specific secretory pattern of GH or as a continuous infusion of GH, to mimic the female secretory pattern. Hypophysectomized rats received i.v. replacement therapy with l-thyroxine and cortisol. The rats were treated for 5 days. The serum cholesterol concentration was higher when hGH was given continuously than when hGH was given as eight daily pulses. The concentration of high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol was not influenced by intermittent GH treatment, but increased when hGH was given as a continuous infusion. The serum concentration of apolipoprotein (Apo) E increased following treatment with a continuous infusion of hGH, whereas eight daily pulses of hGH had no effect. The serum concentration of ApoA-I was unaffected by hGH treatment. The serum concentration of ApoB decreased to the same degree whether hGH was given as a continuous infusion or as eight daily pulses. The serum concentration of triglycerides was not affected by hGH treatment.
These results indicate that the higher serum HDL-cholesterol and serum ApoE concentrations of female rats may be due to their more continuous secretion of GH. In contrast, the effects of GH on the serum concentration of ApoB, which is not sexually differentiated, may be independent of the mode of GH secretion.
Journal of Endocrinology (1991) 128, 433–438
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ABSTRACT
Growth hormone inhibits its own secretion in animals and man but the mechanism for this inhibition is unclear: both stimulation of somatostatin release and inhibition of GH-releasing factor (GRF) release have been implicated. We have now studied the GRF responsiveness of conscious male and female rats under conditions of GH feedback induced by constant infusion of exogenous human GH (hGH). Intravenous infusions of hGH (60 μg/h) were maintained for 3 to 6 h whilst serial injections of GRF(1–29)NH2 (0·2–1 μg) were given at 45-min intervals. The GH responses were studied by assaying blood samples withdrawn at frequent intervals using an automatic blood sampling system. We have confirmed that male and female rats differ in their ability to respond to a series of GRF injections; female rats produced consistent GH responses for up to 13 consecutive GRF injections, whereas male rats showed a 3-hourly pattern of intermittent responsiveness. In female rats, multiple injections of GRF continued to elicit uniform GH responses during hGH infusions, whereas hGH infusions in male rats disturbed their intermittent pattern of responsiveness to GRF, and their regular 3-hourly cycle of refractoriness was prolonged. We suggest that this sex difference in GH feedback may be due to GH altering the pattern of endogenous somatostatin release differentially in male and female rats. Such a mechanism of GH autofeedback could be involved in the physiological control of the sexually differentiated pattern of GH secretion in the rat.
Journal of Endocrinology (1990) 126, 27–35
