Serotonergic influence on the growth hormone response to clonidine in rat

Administration of the alpha 2-adrenoceptor agonist clonidine induces growth hormone (GH) release in rat and man. In the present study it is shown that the GH response to clonidine is weaker in rats exposed to depletion of both noradrenaline and serotonin (by means of reserpine or the combined treatment of FLA-63 and PCPA) than in animals exposed to noradrenaline depletion (by means of FLA-63) only. The possibility that an impaired serotonergic neurotransmission contributes to the blunted GH responses to clonidine observed in patients suffering from endogenous depression is discussed.