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L M Carlsson

Publications and source records attributed to L M Carlsson.

60 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Sex difference in growth hormone feedback in the rat.

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 micrograms/h) were maintained for 3 to 6 h whilst serial injections of GRF(1-29)NH2 (0.2-1 microgram) 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 The GH responses were studied by assaying blood samples withdrawn at frequent intervals using an automatic blood sampling system.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.

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Growth hormone and growth in diabetic rats: effects of insulin and insulin-like growth factor-I infusions.

The effects of streptozotocin-induced diabetes on weight gain, bone growth and GH secretion have been studied in conscious chronically cannulated male rats. In addition to the classic diabetic symptoms (hyperphagia, polydipsia, polyuria, glycosuria and hyperglycaemia), the slow body weight gain (0.95 +/- 0.5 compared with 2.63 +/- 0.5 g/day in non-diabetic controls) was associated with a reduction in bone growth (from 162 +/- 9 to 48 +/- 4 microns/day) and a reduced pituitary GH content (from 1.5 +/- 0.2 to 0.6 +/- 0.06 mg/gland). Serial blood sampling during the day or overnight showed that the normal male episodic GH secretory pattern was obliterated in the diabetic animals. The constant osmotic stimulation of hyperglycaemia and high fluid turnover was reflected in a significant reduction in pituitary oxytocin and arginine vasopressin (AVP) stores. Intravenous insulin infusions (67-1340 pmol/h for 4 or 7 days) caused a large initial weight gain (greater than 20 g in 2 days) followed by a slower increase, and stimulated tibial bone growth (to 100 +/- 16 and 126 +/- 8 microns/day after 4 or 7 days respectively). Insulin infusion for 7 days also increased pituitary GH content (to 1 +/- 0.15 mg/gland), and the normal episodic GH secretory pattern returned. Intravenous infusions of insulin which reduced, but did not completely normalize, blood glucose levels, allowed the resumption of growth and pulsatile GH secretion. Continuous infusion of recombinant human insulin-like growth factor-I (hIGF-I) at 1110 pmol/h for 54 h also caused a large initial rise in body weight in diabetic rats (17.1 +/- 1.6 compared with 7.5 +/- 2.8 g in saline-infused controls) due primarily to increased fluid retention. This effect of hIGF-I occurred without any significant changes in pituitary GH, AVP, oxytocin, blood glucose or bone growth over this short-term infusion, nor was there any obvious effect on spontaneous GH secretion, monitored over the entire infusion period. We conclude that the diabetic rat is not a good model to study growth stimulation by short-term insulin or IGF-I treatments because the insulin-like effects of these peptides obscure their specific growth-promoting activities in this model.

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Growth hormone (GH) secretion in the conscious rat: negative feedback of GH on its own release.

The negative-feedback effects of GH on its own secretion were studied in conscious male and female rats bearing indwelling double-bore venous cannulae. Intravenous infusions of human GH (hGH; 20-60 micrograms/h) or somatostatin (SS; 10 micrograms/h) were given while frequent serial microsamples of blood were withdrawn using an automatic blood-sampling system. In both sexes, i.v. infusions of hGH for 6 h inhibited endogenous GH secretory pulses, with a slow onset of the inhibition. There was no rebound GH secretion immediately following the removal of the hGH infusion, but spontaneous GH secretion gradually returned to normal. Infusions of hGH did not inhibit the pituitary GH response to repeated GH-releasing factor (GRF) injections (1 microgram) given i.v. every 40 min to female rats. By contrast, infusions of SS, which also blocked spontaneous GH release, dramatically reduced the GH responses to serial GRF injections. When SS Infusions were stopped, the subsequent GRF-induced GH secretory responses were enhanced. These results show that GH can inhibit its own release when given by i.v. infusion to conscious male and female rats. Since GH responses to GRF are maintained during a GH infusion, the feedback effect of GH is unlikely to be exerted directly on the pituitary or by increasing SS release. Our results are consistent with the idea that GH feedback in the conscious rat involves an inhibition of GRF release.

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The rebound release of growth hormone (GH) following somatostatin infusion in rats involves hypothalamic GH-releasing factor release.

We have studied the rebound secretion of GH following short-term somatostatin (SS) infusions in conscious rats, using an automatic sampling system for withdrawing frequent microsamples of blood. Intravenous infusions of SS (5-50 micrograms/h per rat) inhibited spontaneous GH secretion, but when SS was withdrawn there was a large burst of rebound GH secretion. A sub-anaesthetic dose of urethane reduced such rebound bursts of GH, suggesting a hypothalamic involvement in rebound GH secretion. Passive immunization with an antibody against rat GH-releasing factor (GRF) attenuated the rebound GH secretory response to the withdrawal of an SS infusion (GH concentration during rebound secretion was 26 +/- 21 micrograms/l vs 475 +/- 127 micrograms/l (mean +/- S.E.M.), after 0.5 ml anti-GRF serum or non-immune serum respectively). The inhibition of GH rebound secretion was related to the dose of anti-GRF serum administered. Intravenous infusions of human GH (20-100 micrograms/h per rat) also reduced the size of the rebound GH secretion following SS withdrawal, in both male and female rats. We suggest that the rebound GH secretion that follows SS withdrawal in vivo is caused mainly by a hypothalamic release of GRF. Exogenous GH inhibits SS-induced rebound GH secretion in the conscious rat, possibly by inhibiting hypothalamic GRF release.

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Growth hormone secretory profiles in conscious female rats.

An automatic method for repetitive microsampling of blood from conscious animals was used to obtain detailed GH secretory profiles from normal female rats, which were compared with those in males and ovariectomized females. Female rats showed a highly variable GH secretory pattern, with sustained periods of low, almost continuous secretion, followed by very rapid bursts of high amplitude and short duration, occurring mostly at night. There was no clear relationship between the pattern of GH secretion and the phase of the oestrous cycle in rats continuously sampled over a 5-day period. In ovariectomized rats, the day:night difference was maintained, though the nocturnal GH surges were larger and of longer duration than in intact females. Male rats produced multicomponent GH bursts which continued unchanged throughout the day and night. This study shows for the first time that female rats switch to a rapid, highly pulsatile pattern of GH release at night, which can only be resolved by rapid blood sampling over extended periods in conscious undisturbed animals.

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