Direct influence of melatonin on the thyroid and comparison with prolactin.

Melatonin administered in vivo had previously been shown to inhibit thyroid cell proliferation and subsequent in vitro thyroxine (T(4)) secretion in anuran tadpoles. Melatonin in vitro also directly reduced the sensitivity of the thyroid to thyrotropin (TSH). The present work sought to determine whether melatonin directly affected baseline, unstimulated T(4) secretion, and to compare its effect with that of prolactin (PRL). Thyroids from larval Rana catesbeiana or adult Rana pipiens were incubated in control or melatonin (0.01 to 100 microg/ml) media. Melatonin directly inhibited T(4) secretion by thyroids from both tadpoles and frogs at all concentrations of melatonin used and at both prometamorphic and climax tadpole stages. PRL, used in vitro at 10 microg/ml, did not influence the response of the thyroid to TSH (0.2 microg/ml) in young tadpoles, or the baseline secretion of T(4) by thyroids at any stage of larval life except climax, when T(4) secretion was significantly decreased by the third day of culture. Thus although both melatonin and PRL have been shown to antagonize the action of T(4) in vitro, and to decrease metamorphic rate, melatonin is a much more effective thyroid gland inhibitor than PRL.

Hormonal profiles correlated with season, cold, and starvation in Rana catesbeiana (bullfrog) tadpoles.

Bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) tadpoles are of value to amphibian researchers because of their large size, and year-round availability due to overwintering in many latitudes. Concern over a possible difference in hormonal parameters in tadpoles obtained at different times of the year prompted us to investigate thyroid gland secretion in vitro, plasma and ocular melatonin, and plasma corticosteroids in late pre- to early prometamorphic larvae on 12L:12D. Winter tadpoles exposed to 22 degrees C for 3 weeks of acclimation (winter group) were compared to summer tadpoles kept at 22 degrees C (summer group), as well as to summer tadpoles exposed to cold (12 degrees C) for the 3 weeks (cold group), or kept at 22 degrees C and starved for the last week of acclimation (starved group). Thyroids from the summer group had a significantly higher response to 0.2 microg/ml ovine thyrotropin (TSH) than the other groups, indicating that cold and starvation inhibited subsequent in vitro thyroid sensitivity to TSH. The thyroids of the starved tadpoles had significantly higher baseline (unstimulated) thyroxine (T4) secretion into the culture media, a finding that might be related to starvation-induced acceleration of metamorphosis. Plasma melatonin was lower, and ocular melatonin significantly higher in both summer and starved groups, while the reverse occurred in the winter and cold groups. Thus, seasonal or induced cold brought on a shift in the relationship of plasma to ocular melatonin but starvation had no effect. There were no significant differences among the treatment groups in plasma hydrocortisone (HC) and aldosterone (ALDO) levels, except that HC was lower than ALDO only in the plasma of winter tadpoles. We conclude that seasonal variation needs to be taken into account in endocrine experiments utilizing tadpoles obtained at different times of the year.