Lack of evidence for an inhibitory role played by tuberoinfundibular dopaminergic neurons on TSH secretion in the rat.

The role of dopamine (DA) in the control of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) secretion in basal or cold stimulated conditions was investigated by using pharmacological or neurosurgical tools. The intraventricular injection of DA (5 micrograms/animal) or the subcutaneus (s.c.) injection of a dopaminomimetic agent failed to induce changes of TSH plasma levels in normal or in cold stimulated conditions. The same results were obtained by intraperitoneal (i.p.) administration of haloperidol, a blocker of dopaminergic receptors. The complete deafferentation of hypothalamus, which causes degeneration of norepinephrinergic nerve endings and leaves the DA tuberoinfundibular system unaffected, prevented the TSH release evoked by cold exposure. alpha-Methyl-p-tyrosine (alpha-MpT) (250 mg/kg i.p.), which causes a remarkable reduction of DA in the median eminence (ME) of deafferented animals, was unable to restore the TSH response to cold. Collectively these results seem to suggest that DA does not play a significative role in the control of TSH secretion in the rat.