The role of LH in the autofeedback inhibition of LH and FSH secretion in ovariectomized rats

This study examined the role of exogenous LH in the autofeedback regulation of LH and FSH release in ovariectomized rats. The rats were implanted with third ventricular cannulae three weeks after ovariectomy and fitted with silastic jugular cannulae one week later. Baseline hormone levels were established on the day of experimentation in conscious, unrestrained animals. Thereafter, experimental animals received intraventricularly (IVT) either a 9 ug or 20 ug dose of a purified preparation of human (h)LH that did not crossreact in our rLH RIA. In response to 20 ug, but not 9 ug of LH, plasma levels of both LH and FSH were significantly reduced during the following one hour period compared to values in controls receiving buffer IVT. Administration of ovine (o)LH (6 ug, IVT), a preparation which crossreacts in the rLH RIA, significantly elevated plasma levels of detectable LH during the experimental period indicating that LH reaches the blood stream from the third ventricle and, thus, may effect endogenous hormone release at either the pituitary or hypothalamic levels. However, in animals preinjected with 9 or 20 ug of hLH IVT one hour earlier the surge of both LH and FSH in response to LHRH (25 ng iv) was not different from that in the buffer-injected controls receiving LHRH which indicates that pituitary responsiveness was not suppressed by the effective dose of hLH. The results of this study suggest that the inhibitory shortloop feedback of LH on endogenous LH and FSH secretion in ovariectomized rats occurs at the level of the hypothalamus.