Influence of starvation on hormonal control of hypophyseal secretion in rats

The reduction of hypophyseal hormone secretion during starvation is not completely understood. A previous study showed that the concomitant reduction of plasma TSH and T3 may be related to an increased sensitivity of the thyrotrope cell to T3. This suggests that regulation of hypophyseal secretion by peripheral hormones may be altered in starved rats. As GH and PRL secretion are under the control of thyroid and steroid hormones, the aim of the present study was to investigate the modification of feed-back control by T3 or E2 on hypophyseal secretion during starvation. For this purpose, pituitary GH, PRL and TSH contents and their plasma responses to TRH injection were measured in euthyroid, thyroidectomized (Tx), T3-supplemented Tx and E2-treated male Wistar rats before and after a 3-day starvation. TRH (0.25 micrograms/100 g) was injected iv through a chronically-implanted catheter. Our results show that GH content and GH plasma response to TRH are dramatically increased in T3-treated Tx starved rats, suggesting that starvation also increases the effectiveness of T3 influence on somatotrope cell secretion. By contrast, effects of T3 on PRL secretion remain unchanged during starvation. Furthermore, starvation in E2-treated rats is associated with a marked rise in the PRL and GH responsiveness to TRH without any significant change of hormonal pituitary content. This suggests that, in starved rats, E2 increases the effects of TRH on lactotrope and somatotrope secretion. No significant effect on TSH secretion could be demonstrated. Thus, starvation seems to act differentially on the feed-back mechanisms controlling the hormonal secretion of the three adenohypophyseal target cells to TRH.