Differential regulation of tuberohypophysial dopaminergic neurons terminating in the intermediate lobe and in the neural lobe of the rat pituitary gland.

In order to characterize the properties of tuberohypophysial dopaminergic neurons which terminate in the intermediate (IL) and neural (NL) lobes of the pituitary gland a technique was developed which permitted the selective dissection of the rat pituitary into its three distinct lobes (NL, IL and anterior lobe, AL). The success of the dissection was evaluated histologically and biochemically by measuring the distribution of peptide hormones characteristic of the dissected regions. As would be predicted, prolactin was found almost exclusively in the AL, arginine-vasopressin in the NL and alpha-melanotropin in the IL. Over two-thirds of total immunoreactive beta-endorphin was located in the IL and less than 30% was found in the AL. The concentration of dopamine (DA) was greater in the IL than in the NL, but the rate of turnover of the amine was approximately the same suggesting that the basal activity of tuberohypophysial DA neurons is similar in both regions. On the other hand, the turnover of DA in the IL, but not NL, was increased following the administration of a DA antagonist (haloperidol) and decreased following a DA agonist (bromocriptine). Thus, the activity of DA neurons terminating in the IL is regulated, at least in part, by DA receptor-mediated mechanisms and in this regard these neurons resemble DA neurons terminating in the nucleus accumbens and striatum. Since DA turnover in NL was not altered by the administration of haloperidol or bromocriptine it is proposed that these neurons lack DA receptor-mediated regulatory mechanisms and thus resemble tuberoinfundibular DA neurons terminating in the median eminence.