Biphasic inhibition of adrenocorticotropin release by corticosterone in cultured anterior pituitary cells.

The inhibition of ACTH secretion by glucocorticoids in vivo is biphasic, with rapid early suppression followed by transient recovery and a late inhibitory phase. To evaluate whether this biphasic effect of glucocorticoids occurs at the pituitary level, the effects of corticosterone (B) on stimulated ACTH release were analyzed in rat anterior pituitary cell cultures. Preincubation with 1 microM B inhibited the ACTH response to 10 nM CRF in a biphasic manner, with rapid inhibition after 10-40 min of preincubation, followed by partial recovery between 40-80 min, and a later phase of inhibition after 80-140 min. Preincubation with B for 40 or 120 min caused a dose-dependent suppression of CRF-stimulated ACTH release, with ED50 values of 416 +/- 21 and 45 +/- 12 nM B, respectively. Pretreatment with B also caused a biphasic inhibitory effect on the stimulatory action of vasopressin, angiotensin II, and norepinephrine on ACTH release. However, addition of these stimuli in combination with CRF surmounted B inhibition of CRF-stimulated ACTH release. B also inhibited the ACTH-releasing effects of postreceptor stimuli, including 8-bromo-cAMP, phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate, and 1,2-dioctanoylglycerol. In the presence of cycloheximide (10 microM), the early inhibitory effect of B was unchanged, but the delayed effect was decreased. Whereas preincubation with B for 40 min inhibited ACTH release, but not total intracellular plus released ACTH, preincubation for 120 min decreased both released and total ACTH. These findings demonstrate that the two inhibitory effects of B on ACTH release differ in their kinetics, steroid sensitivity, and dependence on protein synthesis. The inhibitory effect of B on ACTH responses to stimuli with different mechanisms of action suggests that the suppressive effects of B are mainly exerted at a site distal to the formation of the second messengers involved in hormonal activation of ACTH release.