Oestrogen and progesterone interactions in the control of gonadotrophin and prolactin secretion

doi:10.1016/0022-4731(88)90090-8

Journal of Steroid Biochemistry

Volume 30, Issues 1–6, 1988, Pages 169-178

https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-4731(88)90090-8 Get rights and content

Abstract

Oestrogen and progesterone have marked effects on the secretion of the gonadotrophins and prolactin. During most of the oestrous or menstrual cycle the secretion of gonadotrophin is maintained at a relatively low level by the negative feedback of oestrogen and progesterone on the hypothalamic-pituitary system. The spontaneous ovulatory surge of gonadotrophin is produced by a positive feedback cascade. The cascade is initiated by an increase in the plasma concentration of oestradiol-17β which triggers a surge of luteinizing hormone releasing hormone (LHRH) and an increase in pituitary responsiveness to LHRH. The facilitatory action of oestrogen on pituitary responsiveness is reinforced by progesterone and the priming effect of LHRH. How oestrogen and progesterone exert their effects is not clear but the facilitatory effects of oestrogen take about 24 h, and the stimulation of LHRH release is produced by an indirect effect of oestradiol on neurons which are possibly opioid, dopaminergic or noradrenergic and which modulate the activity of LHRH neurons.

In the rat, a spontaneous prolactin surge occurs at the same time as the spontaneous ovulatory gonadotrophin surge. The prolactin surge also appears to involve a positive feedback between the brain-pituitary system and the ovary. However, the mechanism of the prolactin surge is poorly understood mainly because the neural control of prolactin release appears to be mediated by prolactin inhibiting as well as releasing factors, and the precise role of these factors has not been established. The control of prolactin release is further complicated by the fact that oestradiol stimulates prolactin synthesis and release by a direct action on the prolactotrophes. Prolactin and gonadotrophin surges also occur simultaneously in several experimental steroid models. A theoretical model is proposed which could explain how oestrogen and progesterone trigger the simultaneous surge of LH and prolactin.

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^☆: Proceedings of the 8th International Symposium of The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry “Recent Advances in Steroid Biochemistry” (Paris, 24–27 May 1987).

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Oestrogen and progesterone interactions in the control of gonadotrophin and prolactin secretion☆

Abstract

Rec. Prog. Horm. Res.

Brain Res.

J. biol. Chem.

Brain Res.

Luteinizing hormone releasing factor in pituitary stalk plasma from long-term ovariectomized rats; effects of steroids

J. Endocr.

Sex difference in response to alphaxalone anaesthesia may be oestrogen dependent

Nature

Neuroendocrine control of gonadotrophin secretion

Br. med. Bull.

The endocrine control of ovulation

Sci. Prog.

Effects of gonadal steroids on output of luteinizing hormone releasing factor into pituitary stalk blood in the female rat

J. Endocr.

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) in pituitary stalk blood from proestrous rats: effects of anesthetics and relationship between stored and released GnRH and luteinizing hormone

Endocrinology

Luteinizing hormone releasing hormone (LHRH) in pituitary stalk blood of rhesus monkeys: relationship to level of LH release

Endocrinology

Immunoreactive luteinizing hormone releasing factor (LRF) in pituitary stalk plasma from female rats: effects of stimulating diencephalon, hippocampus and amygdala

J. Physiol., Lond.

The site of the positive feedback action of estradiol in the rat

Endocrinology

Absence of oestradiol concentration in cell nuclei of LHRH-immunoreactive neurones

Nature

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone surge: possible modulation through postsynaptic α-adrenoreceptors and two pharmacologically distinct dopamine receptors

Endocrinology

A role of hypothalamic catecholamines in the regulation of gonadotropin secretion

Rec. Prog. Horm. Res.

Neural regulation of luteinizing hormone secretion in the rat

Endocr. Rev.

Central nervous control of sex and gonadotropin release: peptide and nonpeptide transmitter interactions

Electrical stimulation of ventral versus dorsal mesencephalic tegmental areas in the conscious rat: effects on luteinizing hormone release

Neuroendocrinology

The hypothalamic control of the menstrual cycle and the role of endogenous opioid peptides

Rec. Prog. Horm. Res.

The regulation of proopiomelanocortin gene expression by estrogen in the rat hypothalamus

Further evidence for the existence of opiate binding sites on neurosecretory LHRH mediobasal hypothalamic terminals

Eur. J. Pharmac.

β-Endorphin and dynorphin control serum luteinizing hormone level in immature rats

Nature

Endogenous GABA receptor ligands in hypophysial portal blood

Neuroendocrinology

The role of brain peptides in the control of anterior pituitary hormone secretion

Neuropeptide Y stimulates the release of luteinizing-releasing hormone from medial basal hypothalamus in virto: modulation by ovarian hormones

Neuroendocrinology

Unit responses in the hypothalamus

Functional and morphological aspects of hypothalamic neurons

Physiol. Rev.

An increase in single unit activity of the medial basal hypothalamus occurs during the progesterone-induced luteinizing hormone surge in the female rhesus monkey

Endocrinology

An electrophysiological dissection of the hypothalamic regions which regulate the pre-ovulatory secretion of luteinizing hormone in the rat

J. Physiol., Lond.

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J. Endocr.

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J. Endocr.

Impact of estrogens on hypothalamic nerve cells: ultrastructural, chemical and electrical effects

Rec. Prog. Horm. Res.