Physiological role of neuropeptide Y (NPY) in control of anterior pituitary hormone release in the rat.

Abstract

Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is a peptide originally isolated from porcine brain and subsequently shown to be widely distributed in the body of several species, including man. Neuropeptide Y is a circulating peptide; however, blood levels were higher in portal than peripheral blood of anesthesized rats. Earlier studies in ovariectomized and intact male rats have shown that intraventricular injection of NPY inhibits release of growth hormone (GH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) without producing significant modification of plasma follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and thyrotropin stimulating hormone (TSH). In the male low doses of NPY elevate prolactin (PRL) whereas high doses suppress its release. To assess the physiologic significance of these actions, we injected a highly specific anti-NPY serum (aNPY) into the third cerebral ventricle (3V) of unrestrained male, ovariectomized, and ovariectomized, estrogen progesterone blocked rats and measured plasma GH, PRL, LH and TSH by blood sampling via indwelling jugular catheters. Third ventricular injection of aNPY (2 microliters of 1:10 dilution) caused a significant elevation of plasma GH levels after 3 and 4 h compared to the values in NRS (1:10)-injected rats. To determine if these changes were due to alterations in pituitary responsiveness to somatostatin, the rats were injected intravenously with a challenge dose of somatostatin (0.5 microgram) 2 h after previous injection of aNPY or NRS, and blood samples were taken every 10 min for 30 min. The responses did not differ in both groups which indicated that the antiserum was not acting directly on the pituitary gland.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)