Effects of thymosin alpha-1 on pituitary hormone release

The thymosins are a family of hormone-like products of epithelial cells of the thymus which are important in maintenance and function of the immune system. Thymosin fraction 5, a partially purified extract of calf thymus, can influence pituitary hormone release. We have studied the effects of thymosin alpha 1 (T alpha 1), the first peptide isolated from thymosin fraction 5, on thyrotropin (TSH), adrenocorticotropin (ACTH), prolactin (Prl) and growth hormone (GH) release. To evaluate its effect in vivo we injected the peptide into the third ventricle of conscious male rats and measured the concentration of the pituitary hormones in plasma at different times after the injection. Following third-ventricular injection of T alpha 1, there was a significant decrease in plasma TSH and ACTH concentrations in comparison with values of control groups injected with diluent. The decrease in plasma TSH was of longer duration and was obtained with a lower dose of T alpha 1 than that of ACTH. Also, a significant decrease in plasma Prl was observed, with the same dose as for TSH. On the other hand, there were no significant changes in plasma GH. To examine if there is any direct effect of T alpha 1 at the pituitary level, we incubated hemipituitaries from male rats in vitro with different concentrations of the peptide. In this system T alpha 1 evoked a dose-dependent release of TSH and ACTH, while there was no effect on the release of Prl and GH.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)