Growth hormone inhibits growth hormone secretion from the rainbow trout pituitary in vitro

Growth hormone (GH) secretion in salmonids and other fish is under the control of a number of hypothalamic factors, but negative feed-back regulation by circulating hormones can also be of importance for the regulation of GH secretion. Mammalian studies show that GH has a negative feed-back effect on its own secretion. In order to elucidate if GH levels present a direct ultra-short negative feedback loop at the pituitary level GH secretion was studied in intact pituitaries from 50 g fish in an in vitro perifusion system. Following an initial equilibrium period pituitaries were exposed to five increasing concentrations (1–1000 ng ml⁻¹) of ovine GH (oGH) in 20-min steps, before being returned to a GH-free perifusion. Ovine GH caused a significant dose-dependant inhibition of GH secretion and it is concluded that GH can exert a direct negative feedback control on GH secretion at the pituitary level.