Evidence for chicken GH as the only hypophyseal factor responsible for the stimulation of hepatic 5'-monodeiodination activity in the chick embryo.

Abstract

The influence of an intravenous injection of chicken growth hormone (cGH), a total chicken pars distalis (PD) extract, and a PD extract depleted of cGH by immunoadsorption was studied in the 18-d-old chick embryo. Plasma concentrations of triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxine (T4), and hepatic 5'-monodeiodination (5'-D) activity were measured. An injection of total PD extract raised plasma T3, T4, and 5'-D activity, whereas a PD extract depleted of GH only increased plasma T4. The amount of cGH present in the PD extracts, as measured by homologous cGH radioimmunoassay, increased T3 and raised liver 5'-D, but had no effect on plasma T4. The effect on liver 5'-D was more pronounced with cGH than with a total PD extract, whereas the effect on plasma T3 was somewhat less pronounced. It was concluded that cGH increased the peripheral conversion of T4 into T3 in the chick embryo, whereas a PD extract depleted of cGH was purely thyrotropic. The PD extract also seemed to have 5'-D-suppressing activity.