Evidence that hydrogen sulphide can modulate hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis function: in vitro and in vivo studies in the rat

The gas hydrogen sulphide (H2S) is normally produced in large amounts in the central nervous system during the metabolism of sulphur-containing aminoacids. H2S was recently shown to influence long-term potentiation in the rat hippocampus; this finding suggested that the gas may act as a neuromodulator in the brain. We therefore tested the effect of the gas on the release of corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) from rat hypothalamic explants. CRH immunoreactivity in the incubation media was taken as a marker of peptide release. We found that the addition of NaHS to incubation media was consistently associated with a concentration-dependent decrease in KCl-stimulated CRH release, whereas basal secretion was unaffected. Increased endogenous H2S production may be also obtained using an indirect precursor of H2S formation, S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAMe). The latter mimicked the effects of NaHS, since it reduced potassium-stimulated CRH release. In vivo, SAMe showed no effect on hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) function under resting conditions, but inhibited stress-related glucocorticoid increase.