Effects of gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist and dopamine antagonist on hypothalamus–pituitary–gonadal axis of pre-pubertal female red seabream ( Pagrus major)

Abstract

The effects of GnRH agonist (GnRHa) on the hypothalamus–pituitary–gonadal axis were studied in female pre-pubertal red seabream. Sexually immature 16-month-old fish were implanted intramuscularly with cholesterol pellets containing GnRHa or GnRHa in combination with domperidone, putative dopamine antagonist, and reared for 10–20 days. In both GnRHa and GnRHa + domperidone implanted groups, vitellogenesis was observed on Day 10 and ovulation was observed on Day 20, while ovarian development was not observed in the control fish throughout the experimental period. The levels of GnRH receptor mRNA were significantly higher in both GnRHa implanted groups than in the control. The expressions of all three gonadotropin subunit genes were up-regulated and serum luteinizing hormone levels were increased by the GnRHa implantation. Serum testosterone and estradiol-17β levels were also increased on Day 10 and maintained high levels on Day 20. On the other hand, seabream (sb) GnRH mRNA levels in the brain were relatively low and unchanged in all experiment groups. The present study first shows that GnRH alone can induce precocious puberty in red seabream. These results indicate that the system of pituitary–gonadal axis has already been developed in 16-month-old fish and the commencement of sbGnRH secretion may be an important physiological event for the onset of puberty in the red seabream.