Chronic underfeeding increases the positive feedback efficacy of estrogen on gonadotropin secretion.

Reduced caloric intake has been shown to inhibit reproductive cycles in females of several mammalian species. Previous studies have shown that increased negative feedback efficacy of estrogen on gonadotropin secretion may be responsible. The present study was designed to test the alternate hypothesis that caloric restriction alters the positive feedback efficacy of estrogen on gonadotropin secretion. Adult, cycling female rats were placed on reduced food intake (R) equal to 50% of that consumed by ad/libitum-fed controls (C). When R rats stopped cycling, both R and C rats were ovariectomized (OVX) and immediately implanted subcutaneously with a Silastic capsule containing 100 microg 17beta-estradiol (E2). Blood samples were obtained at 0900-1000 hr and 1600-1730 hr on Days 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 14 after OVX and implantation. Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), and E2 were measured by radioimmunoassay in duplicate aliquots. Results indicate that underfed female rats retain the ability to respond to elevated estrogen levels with an afternoon surge of gonadotropin which is present for at least 14 days for LH. By contrast, FSH surges in R rats became progressively smaller and were no longer significant after Day 10. The present results also demonstrate that the response of R rats to elevated estrogen levels is significantly greater than that of C rats on Days 2-4 for FSH and 2-14 for LH. It is concluded that an inability to respond to elevated estrogen levels with an afternoon LH surge is not the cause of the cessation of normal estrous cycles. The progressive decrease in the afternoon surge of FSH may be, at least partly, responsible for the decreased follicular development observed in underfed rats. Possible explanations of the enhanced LH response to the positive feedback of estrogen are discussed.

Immunocytochemical localization of progestin receptors in monkey hypothalamus: effect of estrogen and progestin.

The increase in PRL secretion which follows progesterone (P) administration to estradiol (E)-primed women and monkeys cannot be due to an action of P at the pituitary level because lactotropes do not contain progestin receptors (PR). To further the hypothesis that P increases PRL secretion by an action in the hypothalamus, PR-expressing neurons were studied in free-ranging and steroid-manipulated monkeys using immunocytochemistry with a monoclonal antibody to human PR. Specific PR immunoreactivity is localized in the nucleus of individual hypothalamic neurons. Male and female adult and juvenile macaque hypothalami contain significant populations of PR-positive neurons throughout the anterior and medial basal hypothalamus. Ovariectomy decreases, but does not abolish, the number of neurons expressing PR. PR expression was not altered in the supraoptic nucleus (SON) by ovariectomy. Estrogen treatment for 28 days caused a significant increase in the number of PR-positive neurons in the medial preoptic area, the ventro-medial nucleus, the arcuate nucleus, and the median eminence, but not in the SON. P treatment added to the E treatment from day 14 to day 28 did not alter the number of PR-positive neurons in any area. These data suggest that PR may be constitutively expressed in the magnocellular neurons of the SON and in certain other cells throughout the hypothalamus. E induces PR in a large proportion of neurons in the medial basal hypothalamus and this action is not blocked by subsequent P treatment. The inability of P to down-regulate PR in the hypothalamus differs from the reproductive tract and pituitary. Indeed, this observation is consistent with the fact that PRL secretion remains elevated during chronic P administration.

Steroid action on estrogen and progestin receptors in monkey pituitary cell cultures.

Estradiol (E) treatment of spayed macaques induces progestin receptors (PR) in pituitary gonadotropes, but not lactotropes. In contrast, levels of pituitary estrogen receptors (ER) remain constant in spayed or E-treated monkeys. In monkey pituitary cultures, the number of PR-positive cells varies depending on the donor status, whereas the percentage of ER-positive cells in similar. We sought to determine whether E can directly induce PR in monkey pituitary gonadotropes in culture and to provide further evidence that monkey pituitary ER are constitutively expressed. Dispersed pituitary cells from intact or gonadectomized male and female macaques were cultured on extracellular matrix with and without E, phenol red, high or low insulin, insulin-like growth factor-I, or 5% ovariectomized monkey serum, ER- and PR-positive parenchymal cells were immunohistochemically detected with monoclonal antibodies H222 and D75 (against human ER) and B39 (against human PR). ER levels were also measured with a gradient shift assay incorporating H222. Neither the percentage of ER-positive cells nor the levels of nuclear ER were altered by donor status or by 8 days of culture in phenol red or E. In contrast, cultures from gonad-intact donors exhibited the highest average percentage of PR-positive cells. The lower number of PR-positive cells in cultures from spayed donors did not vary for 8 days on extracellular matrix without phenol red, E, insulin, or serum. E directly increased the percentage of PR-expressing cells in serum-free cultures. Addition of serum also increased the percentage of PR-positive cells. Addition of E to serum-containing cultures further increased the percentage of PR-positive cells. Neither insulin nor insulin-like growth factor-I directly affected the number of PR-positive cells, but a high level of insulin blunted the action of E on PR induction in serum-free culture. We conclude that E treatment has no obvious effect on ER expression in macaque pituitary. However, the induction of pituitary PR by E treatment of spayed monkeys can be accounted for by a direct action of E on PR gene expression in gonadotropes.

Regulation and localization of estrogen and progestin receptors in the pituitary of steroid-treated monkeys.

PRL increases during pregnancy in primates with rising levels of placental estradiol (E) and progesterone (P). However, while E will increase PRL secretion in monkey pituitary cell cultures, P has no effect. We recently localized progestin receptors (PR) to gonadotropes, but not lactotropes, with an immunocytochemical technique to double stain monkey pituitary cell cultures. The following studies were performed to confirm the immunocytochemical localization of PR in intact pituitary tissue and to determine the effect of E and P on the levels of estrogen receptors (ER) and PR in the pituitary. ER and PR levels were determined in the endometrium of the same animals for an internal comparison. Thirteen adult cycling female cynomolgus monkeys were ovariectomized and treated for 28 days with 1) an empty Silastic capsule (Spay), 2) a 2-cm E-filled capsule (E), or 3) a 2-cm E-filled capsule for 14 days plus a 6-cm P-filled capsule implanted for an additional 14 days (E + P). Blood samples were drawn daily for assay of serum E, P, and PRL levels. Serum PRL was not significantly affected by E, but the sequential addition of P significantly increased serum PRL levels over those observed in Spray animals. The anterior pituitary and endometrium were removed for measurement of ER and PR levels by a sucrose gradient shift assay incorporating monoclonal antibodies against ER and PR. Pituitary ER levels did not vary significantly with steroid treatment (158.2 +/- 33.6, 135.5 +/- 24.9, 104.3 +/- 13.4 fmol/mg DNA in Spay, E, and E + P animals, respectively). Pituitary PR levels were undetectable in Spay animals, were induced by E (393.3 +/- 53.4 fmol/mg DNA), and were suppressed to undetectable levels by the addition of P. A portion of the pituitary was frozen for immunocytochemical single staining for ER, PR, PRL, and LH and double staining for PRL + PR and LH + PR. ER staining was observed in many parenchymal cells, but there was no apparent change with steroid treatment. PR staining was absent in the Spay animals; many PR-positive cells were observed in E-treated females, and only a small number of faintly staining cells were detected in the E + P animals. Double staining for PRL + PR and LH + PR revealed PR in gonadotropes, but not lactotropes. In conclusion, PR, but not ER, are regulated by E and P in the monkey pituitary. Importantly, PR is regulated within gonadotropes, but not lactotropes. Therefore, P probably increases PRL secretion through a hypothalamic action.

Estrogen and progestin receptor immunocytochemistry in lactotropes versus gonadotropes of monkey pituitary cell cultures.

The distribution of estrogen receptors (ER), progesterone receptors (PR), PRL, and gonadotropins in different cell types of the monkey pituitary was examined by immunocytochemical (ICC) labeling of pituitary cell cultures. Dispersed monkey pituitary cells were cultured on extracellular matrix and in serum-free medium for 6-14 days. Individual cultures were singly stained for ER, PR, PRL, LH, and FSH or double labeled for PR and one of the protein hormones. ICC reaction product localizes over the nuclei of cells that are positive for the steroid receptors, whereas reaction product localizes over the cytoplasm of cells that are positive for the protein hormones. Sixty-one percent of the parenchymal cells were positive for PRL, while 1-3% were positive for LH or FSH. Sixty-two percent of the parenchymal cells were ER positive. ER staining was localized over the nuclei of two morphologically distinct cell types. One cell type is smaller and more prevalent than the second cell type. Based on single staining for each of the protein hormones, we propose that the smaller cells are lactotropes, and the larger cells are gonadotropes. PR-positive cells averaged 7.7% of the parenchymal cells. Double ICC staining for PR and the protein hormones demonstrated that PR localize in the nuclei of gonadotropes, but not lactotropes, of monkey pituitary cell cultures. The absence of PR in lactotropes is consistent with our observation that progesterone has no direct effect on PRL secretion in monkey pituitary cell cultures. In contrast, the presence of PR in gonadotropes suggests that progesterone may act directly at the pituitary to modulate gonadotropin secretion in the primate. In conclusion, ER are present in both lactotropes and gonadotropes. PR are present in gonadotropes, but not lactotropes, of the primate pituitary.

Increased suppression of luteinizing hormone secretion by chronic and acute estradiol administration in underfed adult female rats.

These studies attempted to elucidate the relationship between estradiol and luteinizing hormone (LH) secretion in chronically underfed (R) adult female rats. Examination of the response to ovariectomy revealed a significant delay in the onset of the postcastration increase in LH secretion in R females compared to control (C) animals. Chronic estrogen treatment in the form of Silastic capsules containing varying doses of E2. The response of C females was dose-dependent, ranging from complete suppression at 10 micrograms E2/animal to an absence of inhibition at 2.4 micrograms E2/animal. The acute response of LH secretion to E2 administration in the ovariectomized female indicated an increased suppression of plasma LH at 6 and 24 h after a single s.c. injection of estradiol benzoate (EB) in R compared to C animals. There was no difference between R and C rats in the ratio of free to protein-bound estradiol in the serum. The results of these studies suggest that the negative feedback efficacy of estrogen on LH secretion is significantly enhanced by reduced food intake in adult female rats and may be responsible for the loss of reproductive cyclicity in these animals.

The effect of simultaneous versus sequential estradiol and progesterone treatments on prolactin production in monkey pituitary cell cultures.

Dispersed monkey pituitary cells were cultured in serum-free medium and on extracellular matrix for 30 days. After 10-14 days with only insulin, transferrin, and selenium (ITS), the addition of estradiol (E) significantly increased PRL secretion compared to that in vehicle-treated controls. Simultaneous addition of E plus progesterone (P) increased PRL secretion similarly to E alone. PRL secretion in cultures treated with E plus P after 10 days induction by E was also similar to that in cultures maintained continuously in E. PRL secretion declined in wells switched from E to P and in wells switched from E back to vehicle, relative to that in wells maintained continuously in E. Estrogen receptors (ER) were detected in whole pituitary tissue and in serum-free pituitary cultures with a monoclonal antiestrogen receptor antibody (H222) in a sucrose density gradient shift assay. Immunocytochemical staining for ER with the same antibody also showed positive cell nuclei in serum-free pituitary cultures. In summary, ER are maintained in monkey pituitary cells during tissue culture, and PRL production can be further increased by E treatment after long term serum-free culture. Neither simultaneous nor sequential E plus P treatment alters PRL secretion compared to E alone.