Adenohypophyseal Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide and Neuropeptide Y Responses to Hypothyroidism Are Abolished after Anterolateral Deafferentation of the Hypothalamus

Abstract

We examined whether hypothyroidism-induced increases in the anterior pituitary content of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) and neuropeptide Y (NPY) are mediated by the hypothalamus. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were anesthetized and one of the following surgeries was performed: (1) sham thyroidectomy, (2) thyroidectomy, (3) thyroidectomy plus surgical anterolateral deafferentation of the medial basal hypothalamus, or (4) thyroidectomy and sham deafferentation of the hypothalamus (knife was inserted but not rotated). Two weeks after surgery, animals were killed and tissue samples collected for measurement of the anterior pituitary VIP and NPY and plasma thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), thyroxine, and prolactin concentrations (by RIA). Reverse-phase HPLC showed that VIP and NPY immunoreactivities in the anterior pituitary extracts are eluted in the positions identical to synthetic VIP and NPY, respectively. Only data from those animals with complete symmetric cuts located at the posterior border of the optic chiasm were included for analysis. In the thyroidectomized rats the anterior pituitary contents of VIP and NPY were significantly increased. These responses were almost completely prevented by the anterolateral deafferentation of the hypothalamus. Sham hypothalamic deafferentation had no effect on the pituitary neuropeptide responses to hypothyroidism. Anterolateral deafferentation of the hypothalamus also significantly blunted plasma TSH responses to hypothyroidism. These data suggest that some hypothalamic factor is involved in the mediation of the effect of hypothyroidism on the pituitary content of VIP and NPY.