Seasonal Variations in Gonadotropin Responsiveness, Self-Priming, and Desensitization to GnRH Peptides in the Common Carp Pituitary in Vitro

Abstract

Seasonal variations of the GtH release response to salmon GnRH (sGnRH) and [d-Arg6, Pro9NEt]-sGnRH (sGnRH-A) were investigated in female common carp at different stages of the reproductive cycle using perifused pituitary fragments. The responsiveness to sGnRH and sGnRH-A varied seasonally in common carp pituitaries in vitro, with the greatest GtH release response in pituitaries from sexually mature (preovulatory) fish compared to pituitaries from sexually regressed fish. The magnitude of this seasonal change in the GtH release response was greater for sGnRH-A than for sGnRH, and sGnRH-A has a higher potency than sGnRH, particularly in pituitaries from sexually mature fish. Desensitization of perifused pituitary fragments to sGnRH and sGnRH-A, and a self-priming effect of sGnRH-A on the GtH release response, caused by repeated pulse administrations of the GnRH peptides, varied with the stage of reproductive cycle of the common carp. Using pituitaries from sexually regressed female common carp, desensitization occurred only when a high dose of sGnRH or sGnRH-A was given as repeated pulses at short time intervals, and no self-priming was observed by repeated administrations of sGnRH and sGnRH-A. Using pituitaries from sexually mature female common carp, desensitization occurred when a high dose of sGnRH and both high and low dosages of sGnRH-A were given as repeated pulses at short time intervals. Self-priming, largely due to the increase in basal GtH levels, occurred in response to repeated pulses of low dosages of sGnRH-A given at long intervals.