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A Role for Norepinephrine in the Control of Puberty in the Female Rhesus Monkey, Macaca Mulatto^*

ANDREA C. GORE and El TERASAWA

Wisconsin Regional Primate Research Center and Neuroscience Training Program, University of Wisconsin Madison, Wisconsin 53715

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Ei Terasawa,Ph.D., Wisconsin Regional Primate Research Center, 1223 Capitol Court, Madison, Wisconsin 53715.

Abstract

The onset of puberty in female rhesus monkeys is characterized by increases in pulsatile LHRH release. In this study we have tested the hypothesis that changes in input to the LHRH neurosecretory system from noradrenergic neurons contribute to this pubertal increase in LHRH release. In the first experiment, the ability of the LHRH neurosecretory system of prepubertal (12β20 months of age, no signs of puberty evident), early pubertal (24β30 months, premenarchial), and midpubertal (30β45 months, postmenarchial but prior to first ovulation) monkeys to respond to ₁-adrenergic stimulation was tested. LHRH release in the stalk-median eminence of conscious monkeys was measured using an in vivo push-pull perfusion method. During push-pull perfusion, perfusates were collected continuously in 10-min fractions, and the ai-adrenergic stimulant methoxamine (MTX, 10^–8,10^–5 M) or vehicle was infused through the push cannula for 10 min at 90 min intervals. LHRH levels in perfusates were estimated by RIA. Monkeys in all three age groups responded to MTX with significant increases in LHRH release, with the response of the prepubertal group being significantly greater than that of the older age groups. The results indicate that ₁-adrenergic receptors are present and functional prior to puberty. In the second experiment, norepinephrine (NE) release in perfusates collected from monkeys in the three age groups was measured by HPLC with electrochemical detection. NE release increased significantly from the pre- and early pubertal to the midpubertal stage. The enhanced sensitivity of prepubertal monkeys to MTX may be due to the absence of high levels of endogenous NE, which results in a situation similar to denervation hypersensitivity. During the early pubertal stage, increases in input from noradrenergic neurons to the LHRH neurosecretory system may occur, thereby resulting in increases in LHRH release, since early pubertal monkeys are highly sensitive to a-adrenergic input. Therefore, we propose that the increase in NE release during puberty contributes to the developmental increase in LHRH release. (Endocrinology 129: 3009β 3017, 1991)

Footnotes

^* All experiments presented in this manuscript were performed following the standards established by the Animal Welfare Act and the documents entitled "Principles for Use of Animals and Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals." The protocol for this study was reviewed and approved by the Research Animal Resource Center,University of Wisconsin. This work (publication 31β005 of the Wisconsin Regional Primate Research Center) was supported by NIH Grants RR00167, HD11355, and T32GM07507.

Present address: Fishberg Research Center in Neurobiology,Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York, New York.

Received June 3, 1991.

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