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Biomedical subjects

C Kordon

Publications and source records attributed to C Kordon.

At least 181 records · Page 10Linked to original sources
PubMed1979

Independent inhibition of prolactin secretion by dopamine and gamma-aminobutyric acid in vitro.

gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) inhibits PRL release from incubated hemipituitaries in a dose-dependent manner. The maximum inhibition obtained with GABA is less than that obtained with dopamine. Its affinity is 100 times lower. The effect is blocked by picrotoxin but not by a dopamine inhibitor; alpha-flupentixol but not picrotoxin antagonizes dopamine inhibition. This indicates that dopamine and GABA inhibit PRL release through independent receptors. The hypothalamic extract contains sufficient GABA to inhibit PRL release in our in vitro conditions. Picrotoxin, however, does not significantly inhibit the nondopaminergic PRL-inhibiting activity of mediobasal hypothalamic extracts. Another nondopaminergic PRL-inhibiting factor, therefore, seems to be present in the hypothalamus.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

[Mental disorders and prolactin secretion].

Recent reports suggest that selective endocrine disturbances are often associated with mental disease, and that hormonal responses to treatments with antipsychotic drugs can be related to their clinical efficiency. The importance of central monoamine neuron systems for both hormonal control and mental disease probably accounts for these correlations. Measurement of prolactin, a hormone primarily regulated by hypothalamic dopaminergic neurons, provides a useful tool which can help to define the symptomatology of schizophrenic or depressed patients, to calibrate drug therapy and to obtain advance warning of therapeutical side effects. The hormone can also be used as an excellent index for screening dopamine agonist or antagonist properties of new drugs.

Dopamine↗
PubMed1978

Histamine-induced release of thyrotropin releasing hormone from hypothalamic slices.

In vitro release of TRH from mediobasal hypothalamic (MBH) slices was increased in the presence of 56 mM K+ in a Ca2+-dependent manner. Addition of histamine (HA) induced a concentration-dependent release of TRH; concentrations of 3 x 10(-7) M and 10(-6) M elicited maximal and maximal stimulation respectively. Cimetidine 10(-6) M, a potent antagonist of HA H2-receptors, inhibited the effect of HA. The present results suggest that HA can trigger the release of TRH from neurosecretory nerve endings and that MBH slices are a useful preparation for studying neurohormone release.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Participation of serotonin in the phasic release of luteinizing hormone. II. Effects of lesions of serotonin-containing pathways in the central nervous system.

Circadian LH variations were measured in castrated, estradiol-implanted female rats bearing lesions of the raphe nuclei, in which most serotonin (5-HT) containing ascending projections originate, or mediopontine transections interrupting such projections before they enter the hypothalamus. Previous data indicated that pharmacological blockade of 5-HT biosynthesis abolishes the rhythmic pattern of LH secretion; the present study was intended to check whether surgical depletion of hypothalamic 5-HT had a similar effect and whether such abolition could be correlated with hypothalamic or forebrain endogenous concentrations of the amine and of its metabolite, 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA). Maximal inhibition of hypothalamic 5-HT and 5-HIAA concentrations were obtained after complete basal mediopontine transections and after lesions of the medial and the dorsal raphe nuclei; under these conditions, the daily variations in plasma LH were reduced by more than 70%. Smaller lesions, even when they completely destroyed the medial raphe, were much less effective. A good correlation was observed between the amplitude of the LH cycle and the extent of hypothalamic, but not of forebrain, 5-HT and 5-HIAA depletion. However, and in contrast to the results of pharmacological 5-HT inhibition, the cyclic pattern of LH secretion could not be totally abolished by any of these surgical procedures. It is concluded that the dorsal raphe contributes to the regulation of rhythmic LH secretion in castrated female rats bearing estradiol implants by modulating the amplitude of this circadian cycle rather than by generating the rhythmic pattern itself.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

[Subcellular distribution of hypothalamic neurohormones and in vitro stimulation of their release].

Neuronal compartments can be separated by differential spinning or by centrifugation on continuous or discontinuous density gradients. Application of these fractionation techniques to brain structures containing neurosecretory neurons shows that LHRH, somatostatin and a non dopamine prolactin inhibiting factor (PIF) are exclusively recovered from synaptosomal fractions. This indicates that biologically and/or immunologically reactive forms of these hormones are almost entirely concentrated in nerve-endings of neurosecretory neurons. In contrast, other neuropeptides - posterior pituitary hormone, but also TRH, a vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), substance P or endorphins - are also found in supernatant fractions. The existence of multiple molecular forms of neuropeptides is likely to explain these differences. Current theories postulate that they are synthetized on ribosomes as precursor forms. Their active structure is only achieved by enzymatic splitting of the pre- or the prohormone within nerve endings. This mode of synthesis is probably common to all neuropeptides, although it has only been well substantiated in a few cases, in particular for the hormones of the posterior pituitary. Thus, the lack of immunologically detectable LHRH or SRIF outside the synaptosomal fraction may reflect masking of the active immunological sites by inert peptide chains associated with prohormonal forms. Fractionation methods can also be applied to physiological or pharmacological experiments. In particular, they permit to characterize, on presynaptic membranes of neurosecretory neurons, specific receptors to neurotransmitters involved in the control of neurohormone secretion. Interaction of dopamine and acetylcholine with LHRH and CRF release are presented as examples of such applications.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

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.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

Circadian rhythm of luteinizing hormone secretion in the ovariectomized rat implanted with oestradiol.

Implantation of a solid source of oestradiol into ovariectomized rats produced constant plasma concentrations of the hormone over a long period of time. Under these conditions, LH is released in a circadian pattern with a very marked peak in the afternoon. This circadian rhythm is synchronized to the light--darkness cycle, since it follows exactly a shift in the nycthemeral cycle. The first peak appeared on day 3 after placement of the oestrogen implant; its amplitude was constant from days 3 to 9 after implantation, and decreased gradually during prolonged implantation. The afternoon peak was not correlated with changes in the pituitary sensitivity to exogenous LH releasing hormone (LH-RH), since the LH response to increasing doses of the peptide could be superimposed in the morning and in the afternoon. However, the decreased amplitude of the rhythm observed after more than 9 days of implantation seemed to depend upon a progressive desensitization of the pituitary gland to LH-RH. Pituitary LH content also decreased as a function of implantation time. It is concluded that, under conditions of constant plasma oestradiol concentrations and of constant pituitary sensitivity to LH-RH, a daily activation of the neural trigger releasing pituitary gonadotrophins occurs.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

Brain serotonin and estradiol retention in the hypothalamus and pituitary of the rat.

In order to investigate whether the capacity of hypothalamic and anterior pituitary tissue to concentrate and retain estradiol is affected by serotonin (5-HT), 3H-estradiol (3HE2) retention in these structures was measured after 5-HT synthesis inhibition by either parachlorophenylalanine (PCPA) or 6-fluoro-tryptophane (6 FTrp), or after destruction of midbrain raphe nuclei containing 5-HT cell bodies, as well as after administration of the 5-HT precursor 5-hydroxytryptophane (5-HTP). No modification in 3HE2 retention was observed after tryptophane hydroxylase inhibitors of raphe lesions; administration of the precursor only increased the steroid retention at very high, nonphysiological dose levels. It is concluded that the interaction of 5-HT with gonadotropic release cannot be accounted for by a direct effect on specific estrogenic receptors, but occurs at a different level of gonadotropic release regulating structures or directly on LH-RH neurons.

5-Hydroxytryptophan↗