Phenobarbital enhances pituitary LH release induced by LRH pulses in the ovariectomized rat

In the ovariectomized (OVX) rat, the plasma LH response was measured to a pulse of LRH (1.25 or 5 ng/100 g body weight, ia) given before and 1 h after ip administration of phenobarbital (80 mg/kg body weight). The LH response to the LRH pulses was increased 1 h after phenobarbital. In a second experiment, the pituitary LH content of OVX rats was measured 1 h after administration of phenobarbital or saline. No difference in pituitary LH content was found. It is concluded that in the OVX rat, phenobarbital increases the response to a pulse of LRH, presumably by suppressing endogenous pulsatile LRH. This, together with results of earlier experiments, further supports the hypothesis that under conditions where endogenous pulsatile LRH is present, there is always a certain degree of pituitary desensitization or refractoriness and that the removal of this endogenous LRH leads to recovery of pituitary sensitivity to LRH.