Inhibition of growth hormone secretion in anaesthetized fowl: hypothalamic participation

Sodium pentobarbitone anaesthesia lowered the circulating growth hormone (GH) concentration in immature chickens and reduced basal and stimulated pituitary GH release in vitro. The immunoneutralization of endogenous somatostatin (SRIF), by passive SRIF immunization, overcame the inhibitory effect of anaesthesia on basal GH secretion in vivo, but had no direct effects on GH release in vitro. However, while SRIF immunization restored the resting GH concentration in the anaesthetized birds, it increased greatly the GH level in conscious birds. These results therefore suggest that the inhibition of GH secretion in anaesthetized birds may be partly SRIF-mediated, although a suppression of hypothalamic stimulation may also be involved.