Probable extrapituitary source of the immunoreactive prolactin measured in the cerebrospinal fluid of unanesthetized rats by push-pull cannulation of the 3rd ventricle.

The dynamic pattern of the immunoreactive prolactin (PRL) concentrations in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of the 3rd ventricle was explored by push-pull cannulation during either stimulation or blocking of PRL production in the plasma, which itself was sampled by chronic cannulation of the carotid. Some of the results were compared to the PRL concentrations in CSF samples obtained by 3rd-ventricle puncture. Ether stress, which induced a 4- to 6-fold rise in plasma PRL, altered neither the pulsatile circhoral pattern of PRL in the CSF nor the mean level and amplitude of its pulses. However, the sustained intense hyperprolactinemia induced by haloperidol increased the mean PRL level in the CSF and possibly its pulse rate. Surprisingly, hypophysectomy, which suppressed production of PRL in the plasma, did not alter its baseline level or cycling pattern in the CSF. The possibility that tuberal adenohypophysial cells and/or CNS prolactinergic neurons supply the CSF with PRL is discussed.