Effects of luteinizing hormone (LH)-releasing hormone pulse amplitude and frequency on LH secretion by perifused rat anterior pituitary cells.

Recent studies have shown that LH secretion in vivo is pulsatile. In the present study, a cell perifusion system was employed to characterize the pituitary response to changes in LHRH pulse amplitude and frequency. Increases in pulse amplitude consistently elevated both mean LH levels and the amount of LH released in response to individual LHRH pulses. The EC50 for LHRH was approximately 3 nM. Increases in pulse frequency also increased mean LH levels, but frequencies of three or more pulses per h were associated with a decrease in the amount of LH released per pulse. Alterations in LHRH pulse characteristics changed qualitative as well as quantitative aspects of LH secretion, with high frequency, high amplitude pulses producing a biphasic response to LHRH. Initially a self-priming response was seen during the second and third hours of stimulation; this was followed by increasing desensitization of the cultures to LHRH. These results, by defining the pituitary response to specific conditions of stimulation, will help to clarify the relationship of LHRH stimulation to LH secretion in vivo.