Effects of naloxone on the serum luteinizing hormone level and the number of Fos-positive gonadotropin-releasing hormone neurons in immature female rats.

Abstract

To examine developmental changes in the number of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons activated by an opioid receptor antagonist in female rats, blood sampling and double-labeled immunocytochemistry for Fos and GnRH were performed after the injection of naloxone (NAL) in immature (postnatal d16 and d30) and mature female rats. Three age groups of rats were perfused with 4% paraformaldehyde-PB 90 min after the subcutaneous injection of NAL (2.5 mg/kg) or saline. All tissue incubation and staining for double-labeled immunocytochemistry were simultaneously performed. Although no significant developmental change was observed in the total number of GnRH neurons (p0.05), NAL-induced increases in serum luteinizing hormone (LH) concentrations were much greater in the d16 group than those in the d30 and mature groups (p<0.01). Conversely, Fos-positive GnRH neurons were rarely observed in d16, and some Fos-positive GnRH neurons were observed in the d30 group (p<0.05 vs. saline) and the mature group (p<0.01 vs. saline). These results suggest that opiatergic inhibitory system on GnRH neuron in immature female rats is different from that in mature female rats.