Triiodothyronine (T3) inhibition of growth hormone secretion by chicken pituitary cells in vitro.

These studies examined the cellular basis for the inhibitory effects of triiodothyronine (T3) on growth hormone-releasing factor (GRF)-evoked growth hormone (GH) release from chicken anterior pituitary cells in vitro. A primary monolayer culture of anterior pituitaries from 4- to 8-week-old White Leghorn cockerels was performed as previously described by this laboratory. Following a 72-hr preincubation period, cells were washed and incubated (2 hr) with either secretagogues or media alone (control). T3 (20 ng/ml) or vehicle was added to cells during both the preincubation (48-72 hr) and incubation (2 hr period. Triiodothyronine reduced (P less than 0.05) GH release (ng/ml) in response to (1) GRF; (2) the adenylyl cyclase stimulator, forskolin; (3) the cAMP analog and protein kinase A activator, 8-bromo cAMP; and (4) the phorbol ester and protein kinase C activator, phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate. Triiodothyronine reduced (P less than 0.05) the intracellular content of GH and total GH (released GH and intracellular GH) irrespectively of whether secretagogues were also present. When GH release was expressed as a percentage of total GH [released GH/(intracellular GH + released GH)], percentage GH released in response to GRF, or the protein kinase A, protein kinase C, or calcium pathway activators was not as great in T3-treated versus non-T3-treated cells. These data indicate that T3 inhibits GRF-evoked GH release by reducing the availability of intracellular stores of GH and by also inhibiting second messenger-stimulated GH release pathways.