Abstract

Dopamine (DA) has dual actions (inhibitory and stimulatory) in the regulation of prolactin (PRL) release, depending on its concentration. To investigate the stimulatory effects of DA, perifused rat anterior pituitary cells were exposed to the highly-specific DA D 2 receptor agonist, quinpirole hydrochloride (LY). Very low concentrations of LY (10 −12–10 −10M) stimulated PRL release and potentiated thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH)-induced PRL release. Higher concentrations of LY did not stimulate. Pretreatment with pertussis toxin (30 ng/ml, 24 h) completely abolished these effects of LY. The D 2 receptor antagonist, metocloprimide, also blocked the potentiation by LY of TRH-induced PRL release. These data indicate that very low concentrations of dopamine stimulate PRL release via an interaction with a D 2 receptor connected to a pertussis toxin-sensitive G protein.

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