During puberty, primates begin to secrete LH, and presumably GnRH, at night and then eventually throughout the day as they mature. We examined the role of vasopressin, a putative inhibitor of the GnRH pulse generator, on LH secretion in pubertal male macaques both during the day when the GnRH pulse generator was not active and during the night when pulsatile LH secretion was observed. As has been found in other primates, LH and testosterone levels were low during the day and elevated at night. A potent vasopressin receptor antagonist (VPa) was administered during the middle 5 h of a 15-hour daytime or nighttime blood collection period to determine the effects on LH, testosterone and cortisol secretion. Both during the day and night, cortisol secretion was elevated during VPa infusion, suggesting that this V1a receptor antagonist has agonist activity on the V1b receptor in the pituitary involved in vasopressin-stimulated corticotropin release. Mean LH levels during VPa infusion were not different from the control period for that group during the day when LH secretion was absent. Mean LH levels were significantly higher (p < 0.05) than pre-VPa LH levels at night when pulsatile LH secretion was observed. However, LH levels at night during VPa were not higher than levels in untreated animals at the same time. The results of these studies demonstrate that LH and testosterone profiles are similar to those observed in human males during the pubertal transition and suggest that the absence of daytime gonadotropin release during puberty is not due to inhibitory vasopressinergic tone on the GnRH pulse generator.

Keywords:
Vasopressin, Gonadotropins, Gonadotropin-releasing hormone, Gonadal steroids, Puberty, Primates, Rhesus monkeys
1.
Boyar RM, Rosenfeld RS, Kapen S, Finkelstein JW, Roffwarg HP, Weitzman ED, Hellman L: Simultaneous augmented secretion of luteinizing hormone and testosterone during sleep. J Clin Invest 1974;54:609–618.
2.
Judd HL, Parker DC, Siler TM, Yen SSC: The nocturnal rise of plasma testosterone in pubertal boys. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1974;38:710–713.
3.
Steiner RA, Bremner WJ: Endocrine correlates of sexual development in the male monkey, Macaca fascicularis. Endocrinology 1981;109:914–919.
4.
Bercu BB, Lee BC, Pineda JL, Spiliotis BE, Denman DE III, Hoffman HJ, Brown TJ, Sachs HC: Male sexual development in the monkey. I. Cross-sectional analysis of pulsatile hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular function. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1983;56:1214–1226.
5.
Plant TM: A study of the role of the postnatal testes in determining the ontogeny of gonadotropin secretion in the male rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta). Endocrinology 1985;116:1341–1350.
6.
Goldsmith PC, Thind KK, Song T, Kin EJ, Boggan JE: Location of the neuroendocrine gonadotropin-releasing hormone neurons in the monkey hypothalamus by retrograde tracing and immunostaining. J Neuroendocrinol 1990;2:157–168.
7.
Goldsmith PC, Goggan JE, Thind KK: Opioid synapses on vasopressin neurons in the paraventricular and supraoptic nuclei of junvenile monkeys. Neuroscience 1991;45:709–719.
8.
Weiner RI, Martinez de la Escalera G: Inhibitory regulation of pulsatile GnRH release from GT1 GnRH cell lines by vasopressin and GABA. Soc Neurosci Abstr 1992;392:4.
9.
Vaughn MK, Blask DE, Johnson LY, Reiter RJ: Prolactin-releasing activity of arginine vasotocin in vitro. Horm Res 1975;6:342–350.
10.
Shalts E, Feng Y-J, Ferin M: Vasopressin mediates the interleukin-1α-induced decrease in luteinizing hormone secretion in the ovariectomized rhesus monkey. Endocrinology 1992;131:153–158.
11.
Heisler LE, Tumber AJ, Reid RL, van Vugt DA: Vasopressin mediates hypoglycemia-induced inhibition of luteinizing hormone secretion in the ovariectomized rhesus macaque. Neuroendocrinology 1994;60:297–304.
12.
Shalts E, Xiao E, Xia L, Ferin M: Inhibitory effect of arginine-vasopressin on LH secretion in the ovariectomized rhesus monkey. Neuroendocrinology 1994;59:336–342.
13.
Ostrowski NL, Lolait SJ, Young WS III: Cellular localization of vasopressin V1a receptor messenger ribonucleic acid in adult male rat brain, pineal, and brain vasculature. Endocrinology 1994;135:1511–1528.
14.
Norman RL, Lindstrom SA, Bangsberg D, Ellinwood WE, Gliessman P, Spies HG: Pulsatile secretion of luteinizing hormone during the menstrual cycle of the rhesus macaque. Endocrinology 1984;115:261–266.
15.
Ellinwood WE, Norman RL, Spies HG: Changing frequency of pulsatile luteinizing hormone and progesterone secretion during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle of rhesus macaques. Biol Reprod 1984;31:714–722.
16.
Norman RL, Smith CJ: Pulsatile secretion of bioactive luteinizing hormone in adult male rhesus macaques: Acute and chronic effects of orchidectomy. Biol Reprod 1987;36:293–300.
17.
Norman RL, Smith CJ: Restraint inhibits luteinizing hormone and testosterone secretion in intact male rhesus macaques: Effects of concurrent naloxone administration. Neuroendocrinology 1992;55:405–415.
18.
Plant TM: Time courses of concentrations of circulating gonadotropin, prolactin, testosterone, and cortisol in adult male rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) throughout the 24 h cycle. Biol Reprod 1981;25:244–252.
19.
Smith CJ, Norman RL: Circadian periodicity in circulating cortisol is absent after orchidectomy in rhesus macaques. Endocrinology 1987;121:2186–2191.
20.
Cumming CD, Quigley ME, Yen SSC: Acute suppression of circulating testosterone levels by cortisol in men. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1983;57:671–673.
21.
Bankowski K, Manning M, Haldar J, Sawyer WH: Design of potent antagonists of the vasopressor response to arginine-vasopressin. J Med Chem 1978;21:850–853.
22.
Tribollet E, Barberis C, Jard S, Dubois-Dauphin M, Dreifuss JJ: Localization and pharmacological characterization of high affinity binding sites for vasopressin and oxytocin in the rat brain by light microscopic autoradiography. Brain Res 1988;442:105–118.
23.
Jard S, Gaillard RC, Guillon G, Marie J, Schoenenberg P, Muller AF, Manning M, Sawyer WH: Vasopressin antagonists allow demonstration of a novel type of vasopressin receptor in the rat adenohypophysis. Mol Pharmacol 1986;30:171–177.
24.
Dubey AK, Plant TM: A suppression of gonadotropin secretion by cortisol in castrated male rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) mediated by the interruption of hypothalamic gonadotropin-releasing hormone release. Biol Reprod 1985;33:423–431.
25.
Wotjak CT, Kubota M, Liebsch G, Montkowski A, Holsboer F, Neumann I, Landgraf R: Release of vasopressin within the rat paraventricular nucleus in response to emotional stress: A novel mechanism of regulating adrenocorticotropic hormone secretion. J Neurosci 1996;16:7725–7732.
1998
Copyright / Drug Dosage / Disclaimer
Copyright: All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be translated into other languages, reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, microcopying, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Drug Dosage: The authors and the publisher have exerted every effort to ensure that drug selection and dosage set forth in this text are in accord with current recommendations and practice at the time of publication. However, in view of ongoing research, changes in government regulations, and the constant flow of information relating to drug therapy and drug reactions, the reader is urged to check the package insert for each drug for any changes in indications and dosage and for added warnings and precautions. This is particularly important when the recommended agent is a new and/or infrequently employed drug.
Disclaimer: The statements, opinions and data contained in this publication are solely those of the individual authors and contributors and not of the publishers and the editor(s). The appearance of advertisements or/and product references in the publication is not a warranty, endorsement, or approval of the products or services advertised or of their effectiveness, quality or safety. The publisher and the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to persons or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content or advertisements.
You do not currently have access to this content.