HOME HELP CONTACT US SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by BURGER, H. G. Articles by LEE, V. W. K. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by BURGER, H. G. Articles by LEE, V. W. K.

The presence of luteinizing hormone releasing factor (LH-RF) activity was investigated in pituitary stalk and systemic blood collected from rats ovariectomized at least 3 weeks previously, and in stalk blood from male rats in which electrodes had been implanted in the medial preoptic area of the brain. Most of the assayable luteinizing hormone (LH) present in the blood samples was eliminated by acid-ethanol extraction followed by ultrafiltration. The ultrafiltrates were injected into ovariectomized rats treated with oestrogen and progesterone, and increments in the concentration of LH in the sera of these animals, estimated by radioimmunoassay, were taken as an indication that the filtrate was able to release LH from the anterior pituitary gland. The ultrafiltrates of both the stalk and systemic plasma from the ovariectomized rats exhibited LH-RF activity as did the ultrafiltrates of blood collected from the pituitary stalk of the male rats during electrical stimulation of the preoptic area; stalk blood collected from these animals before the current was applied appeared to be inactive. The LH-RF activity of the ultrafiltrates of systemic and pituitary stalk plasma taken from ovariectomized rats was similar, and, therefore, the possibility is raised that the response of the pituitary glands in ovariectomized rats treated with oestrogen and progesterone is of an all or none type. The presence of appreciable quantities of LH-RF in the systemic plasma of ovariectomized rats may explain the discrepancy between bioassay and immunoassay estimates of LH in the plasma of these animals. The rapid increase in the concentration of serum LH and in the LH-RF activity of pituitary stalk plasma which followed stimulation of the preoptic area suggests that this region of the brain may be important in the control of the secretion of LH in the male as well as in the female animal.