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Cortisol Selectively Stimulates Pituitary Gonadotropin ß-Subunit in a Primitive Teleost, Anguilla anguilla¹

Laboratoire de Physiologie Générale et Comparée (Y.-S.H., K.R., M.S., N.L.B., S.D.), Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, URA 90, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France; and the Department of Aquaculture, Swedish University of Agriculture (M.S.), 90183 Umea, Sweden

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Dr. Sylvie Dufour, Laboratoire de Physiologie Générale et Comparée, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle (MNHN), URA 90, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 7 rue Cuvier, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France. E-mail: dufour{at}mnhn.fr

It has been suggested that in mammals, glucocorticoids, beside their stress-related inhibitory effects on reproductive function, may also play a stimulatory role at the onset of puberty. Using the juvenile female eel as a model, we investigated the potential stimulatory role of cortisol (F) on pituitary gonadotropin (GtH-II). GtH-II levels were measured by RIA, and messenger RNA (mRNA) levels for - and GtH-II ß-subunits were determined by dot blot using homologous probes. F treatment increased eel pituitary GtH-II content in vivo and in vitro. Using a long term, serum-free primary culture of pituitary cells, we studied the direct effect of F on GtH-II production. F increased the GtH-II cellular content in vitro in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The relative potencies of various corticosteroids on GtH-II were: triamcinolone acetonide > dexamethasone > F >> cortisone and aldosterone, indicating a glucocorticoid-specific receptor (GR). F stimulated GtH-II production through a selective increase in mRNA levels for GtH-II ß-subunit; no significant effect was observed on -subunit mRNA levels. This stimulatory effect of F on GtH-II ß, played out directly at the pituitary cell level, recalls that of F on FSHß in the rat. The present study, performed in a primitive teleost at the juvenile stage, suggests that the role of F in the positive regulation of gonadotropins at puberty may have arisen early in vertebrate evolution.

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