Effects of castration and gonadal steroids on serum luteinizing hormone and prolactin in old and young rats.

Changes in serum LH and prolactin concentrations in response to bilateral gonadectomy and gonadal steroid replacement were measured in mature young (4-6 months) and old (23-30 months) female and male Long-Evans rats. On day 13 after gonadectomy, female rats were injected with oestradiol benzoate (OB) and male rats with testosterone propionate (TP) for a period of 12 days. They were then permitted a recovery period of 6 weeks. Serum prolactin and LH concentrations were measured by radioimmunassay in single blood samples taken at various intervals before and after gonadectomy and during and after steroid treatment. Serum LH levels were about the same in intact young old female rats, but after ovariectomy LH rose several fold higher in young than in old remale rats. In male rats, after orchidetomy the increase in serum LH was greater in young than in old rats. Oestradiol benzoate and TP injections into female and male young and old rats produced variable effects on LH release. Serum prolactin concentrations were approximately six times higher in old intact than in young intact female rats, and after ovariectomy showed a much greater percentage reduction in old than in young female rats. Administration OB produced a greater absolute increase in serum prolactin in old than in young female rats. Serum prolactin values were about the same in old and young male rats, and the effects of castration and TP administration on serum prolactin were not markedly different in the two age groups. These results indicate that old female and male rats are less capable of releasing LH than young rats of both sexes, but old females release more prolactin than young females.