Evidence for the control of prolactin secretion by hypophysial posterior lobe extracts.

The effect of posterior lobe extracts on prolactin secretion in vitro was compared with that of median eminence, hypothalamic (with and without median eminence) and cortex extracts. The posterior lobe extract clearly inhibited adenohypophysial prolactin secretion, showing a similar effect to that of the hypothalamic extracts. The median eminence extract showed inconstant inhibitory effects, while the cerebral cortex extracts showed no effect. The removal of the median eminence did not modify the hypothalamic inhibitory effect. Although the median eminence has always been considered to be the final common pathway for the control of adenohypophysial secretion, these results suggest that the posterior lobe may also play a physiological role in this control.