AJP - Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, Vol 259, Issue 1 25-R31, Copyright © 1990 by American Physiological Society

ARTICLES

Short-term hormonal responses to food intake in peripubertal female rats

F. H. Bronson and P. D. Heideman
Department of Zoology, University of Texas, Austin 78712.

These studies focused on the phenomenon of "catch-up" pubertal development. Circulating levels of several hormones were characterized in 8-wk-old female rats whose growth and reproductive development had been blocked before puberty by restricting their food intake. Some of these females were fed ad libitum for 24 h to initiate rapid pubertal development. Blood levels of luteinizing hormone (LH) and growth hormone (GH) were suppressed by food restriction and then partially restored to adult diestrus levels by 24 h of ad libitum feeding. Prolactin titers were also suppressed by food restriction but not significantly elevated by 24 h of ad libitum feeding. Circulating levels of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) were unaffected by either treatment. It is concluded that GH could play an active supplementary role to LH in eliciting catch-up pubertal development but that FSH and TSH could play only passive roles at best. The role of prolactin remains uncertain. On a finer time scale, when food-restricted females were examined in relation to the time of day at which they were fed, most showed high-amplitude LH pulses 2-4 h after eating but rarely at any other time. Thus under some conditions LH secretion can be modulated by food intake on an almost hour-by-hour basis. Overall, blood levels of corticosterone were generally but not always inversely correlated with the frequency of LH pulsing in these experiments. Finally, the present results argue against the concept that puberty is dependent on a critical whole body characteristic.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

This article has been cited by other articles:

				B. M. McGowan, S. A. Stanley, J. Donovan, E. L. Thompson, M. Patterson, N. M. Semjonous, J. V. Gardiner, K. G. Murphy, M. A. Ghatei, and S. R. Bloom Relaxin-3 stimulates the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab, August 1, 2008; 295(2): E278 - E286. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. W. Hill, J. K. Elmquist, and C. F. Elias Hypothalamic pathways linking energy balance and reproduction Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab, May 1, 2008; 294(5): E827 - E832. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. C. Laws, T. E. Stoker, J. M. Ferrell, M. G. Hotchkiss, and R. L. Cooper Effects of Altered Food Intake during Pubertal Development in Male and Female Wistar Rats Toxicol. Sci., November 1, 2007; 100(1): 194 - 202. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. N. Wade and J. E. Jones Neuroendocrinology of nutritional infertility Am J Physiol Regulatory Integrative Comp Physiol, December 1, 2004; 287(6): R1277 - R1296. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Woller, S. Tessmer, D. Neff, A. A. Nguema, B. V. Roo, and D. Waechter-Brulla Leptin Stimulates Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone Release From Cultured Intact Hemihypothalami and Enzymatically Dispersed Neurons Experimental Biology and Medicine, June 1, 2001; 226(6): 591 - 596. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E.-S. Han, T. R. Evans, S. Lee, and J. F. Nelson Food Restriction Differentially Affects Pituitary Hormone mRNAs throughout the Adult Life Span of Male F344 Rats J. Nutr., June 1, 2001; 131(6): 1687 - 1693. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				J. E. Jones and L. S. Lubbers Suppression and recovery of estrous behavior in Syrian hamsters after changes in metabolic fuel availability Am J Physiol Regulatory Integrative Comp Physiol, May 1, 2001; 280(5): R1393 - R1398. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. E. Schneider, R. M. Blum, and G. N. Wade Metabolic control of food intake and estrous cycles in Syrian hamsters. I. Plasma insulin and leptin Am J Physiol Regulatory Integrative Comp Physiol, February 1, 2000; 278(2): R476 - R485. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. B. Loucks and M. Verdun Slow restoration of LH pulsatility by refeeding in energetically disrupted women Am J Physiol Regulatory Integrative Comp Physiol, October 1, 1998; 275(4): R1218 - R1226. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]