Normal LHRH neuronal function and hyperprolactinemia in old pseudopregnant Fischer 344 rats

The relative contributions of LHRH neuronal function and hyperprolactinemia to the maintenance of the repeated pseudopregnant (PP) state in old Fischer 344 rats were examined. LHRH concentrations within 8 microdissected regions of the preoptico-tuberal pathway were not different between normally cycling 4-5 and 10-11 months old rats and PP 22-23 months old rats. LHRH concentrations were significantly decreased in the median eminence and serum LH was increased 2 weeks after ovariectomy in all 3 age groups. Ovariectomy had no significant effect on LHRH concentrations in any of the other brain regions examined in these three age-groups. Serum prolactin levels were elevated 4-fold in old PP rats when compared to younger animals and these old PP rats failed to exhibit the normally observed decline in serum prolactin in response to ovariectomy. Daily treatment for 10 days with the dopamine agonist, CB-154, reinitiated normal ovarian cycles in 7 of 7 old PP rats while vehicle treatment was ineffective in altering the PP state. The data suggest that persistent hyperprolactinemia rather than impaired LH secretory mechanisms is primarily responsible for the PP state in old Fischer 344 rats.