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Insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I has been suggested as a potential signal linking growth and puberty in mammals. Using the juvenile European eel as a model, we employed a long-term, serum-free primary culture of pituitary cells to study the direct effect of IGF-I on gonadotrophin (GtH-II=LH) production. IGF-I increased both cell content and release of GtH-II in a time- and dose-dependent manner. IGF-I and IGF-II had similar potencies but insulin was 100-fold less effective, suggesting the implication of an IGF type 1 receptor. Other growth and metabolic factors, such as basic fibroblast growth factor and thyroid hormones, had no effect on GtH-II production. IGF-I did not significantly increase the number of GtH-II immunoreactive cells, indicating that its stimulatory effect on GtH-II production does not result from gonadotroph proliferation. Comparison of IGF-I and somatostatin (SRIH-14) effects showed that both factors inhibited growth hormone (GH) release but only IGF-I stimulated GtH-II production by eel pituitary cells. This indicates that the effect of IGF-I on gonadotrophs is not mediated by the reduction of GH released by somatotrophs into the culture medium. This study demonstrates a specific stimulatory effect of IGF-I on eel GtH-II production, played out directly at the pituitary level. These data obtained in a primitive teleost suggest that the role of IGF-I as a link between body growth and puberty may have been established early in the evolution of vertebrates.

Studies in nonhuman primates indicate that changes in the thickness and integrity of the vaginal epithelium affect the transmission rates of HIV-1, but few studies have examined the normal variations that may occur in the vagina of normal macaques as a result of aging or changes in the menstrual cycle. This study was conducted to determine if differences occur in the thickness of the vaginal mucosa with age or menses. Vaginal mucosal thickness was compared in 46 rhesus macaques grouped as juvenile (1–3 years old), mature cycling (3–21 years old), and geriatric (> 21 years old). Epithelia of mature cycling macaques were also compared at different stages of the menstrual cycle. Older females (> 21 years) had the thinnest and least keratinized epithelium of all groups, followed by the youngest females (< 3 years). The vaginal epithelium was also thinner in cycling macaques during menses compared to the follicular stage. In addition, young, geriatric, or cycling macaques during menses had minimal keratinization. We hypothesize that normal physiologic changes in the vaginal epithelium of women occur with age and menses, which may affect a woman’s susceptibility to HIV-1 transmission and other sexually transmitted diseases. Also, age and menstrual cycle should be considered when designing vaginal transmission experiments in rhesus macaques.

The regulation of growth hormone (GH) by thyroid hormones (THs) has been shown to present species variation. We investigated the regulation of GH in the eel, a representative of an ancient group of teleosts. In vivo administration of triiodothyronine (T(3)) or thyroxine (T(4)) significantly reduced pituitary and serum GH levels, as measured by homologous RIA. In order to investigate the ability of THs to regulate GH production directly at the pituitary level, we used a long-term, serum-free primary culture of eel pituitary cells. Both T(3) and T(4) inhibited GH release in a concentration-dependent manner, producing up to 50% inhibition at 10 nM, with an ED(50) of <0.2 nM, within the range of their physiological circulating levels. Other hormones also acting via the nuclear receptor superfamily, such as sex steroids (testosterone, estradiol and progesterone) and corticosteroid (cortisol), had no effect on GH release in vitro, underlining the specificity of the regulatory effect of THs on GH. Measurement of both GH release and cellular content for calculation of GH production in vitro indicated that THs not only inhibited GH release but also GH synthesis. Dot-blot assay of GH messenger RNA (mRNA) using an homologous eel cDNA probe showed a decrease in GH mRNA levels in cells cultured in the presence of T(3), as compared with control cells. This demonstrated that the inhibition of T(3) on GH synthesis was mediated by a decrease in GH mRNA steady state levels. In conclusion, we demonstrate inhibitory regulation of eel GH synthesis and release by THs, exerted directly at the pituitary level. These data contrast with the rat, where THs are known to have a stimulatory effect and suggest that the pattern observed here in an early vertebrate and also found in birds, reptiles and some mammals including humans, may represent an ancestral and more generalized vertebrate pattern of TH regulation of pituitary GH.