Inhibitory actions of keoxifene on luteinizing hormone secretion in pituitary gonadotrophs

The effect of keoxifene (LY 156 758) on GnRH-stimulated LH release and its ability to antagonize estrogen actions were investigated in rat anterior pituitary cells. Estrogens exert either stimulatory or inhibitory effects on GnRH-induced LH secretion in rat pituitary cells depending on the incubation time with the steroid. When pituitary cells were treated for 24 h with 10(-9) M estradiol, the LH response to GnRH was clearly enhanced, and this effect was completely inhibited by 300 nM keoxifene. Short term treatment (4 h) of pituitary cells with 10(-9) M estradiol inhibits GnRH-stimulated LH release, and this effect was also blocked by keoxifene in a dose-dependent manner. In the absence of exogenous estrogen the treatment of pituitary cells for 4 h with increasing concentrations of keoxifene reduced the LH response to 10(-9) M GnRH only at very high concentrations (10(-5) M) of the antiestrogen. After treatment for 24 h, the inhibitory effect of keoxifene was evident at concentrations greater than or equal to 10(-8) M, with a reduction of GnRH-induced LH release by up to 60%. The effects of the antiestrogen were also analyzed in a dynamic culture system, in which pituitary cells grown on microcarrier beads were continuously perifused with medium and stimulated with GnRH in a pulsatile fashion. The LH response to a 2 min pulse of 10(-9) M GnRH was reduced in magnitude after 40 min of perifusion with 10(-9) M estradiol. When keoxifene (300 nM) was present at the same time, the LH response was identical to that observed in vehicle-treated cells. At the concentration of 300 nM, keoxifene per se did not change the responsiveness of the pituitary cells to the GnRH stimulus. These findings show that keoxifene is a potent antagonist of both positive and negative estrogen actions in the pituitary gonadotroph. In addition, after short term treatment with high concentrations or after long term treatment, keoxifene itself exerts an inhibitory effect on GnRH-induced LH secretion.