Cyclic GMP and cyclic AMP levels in median eminence, hypothalamus and pituitary gland of the rat after decapitation or microwave irradiation.

Cyclic AMP and cyclic GMP content of the median eminence (ME), medial basal hypothalamus (MBH), posterior pituitary (PP) and anterior pituitary (AP) of inact male rats was measured by radioimmunoassay following decapitation or exposure to microwave irradiation (MW). Levels of both nucleotides in MW irradiated animals were higher in all three nervous tissues studied than in the AP. Following decapitation cyclic AMP levels increased strikingly in the MBH and ME, slightly in the AP, but remained unchanged in the PP. Cyclic GMP levels increased more markedly in the ME than in the MBH, slightly in the PP and did not change in the AP. The distinct synthesizing capability of the cyclic AMP and cyclic GMP generating systems in the ME, a region rich in neurohormones known to control anterior pituitary function, raises the possibility that these nucleotides are involved in the process of neurohormone secretion by the ME.