Neuroendocrine regulation of thymus hormones: hypothalamic dependence of "facteur thymique serique" level.

The influence of the hypothalamus extract (HE) on the blood level of the "facteur thymique serique" (FTS) was studied. Hypothalami collected from young mice were pooled, homogenated in saline, and centrifuged; finally, the supernatant injected in old or thymectomized mice with no detectable levels of FTS. In the old mice the treatment results in a reappearance of this circulating thymic hormone; in contrast, in adult thymectomized animals, the HE injection was not able to induce FTS activity. When HE donors were pretreated with thymosin fraction 3, known to contain FTS among other active peptides, the capacity of such a hypothalamus preparation to induce reappearance of FTS in old animals is greatly diminished. The data presented here suggest that the capacity of the thymus to secrete FTS depends on a hypothalamic factor, and therefore the absence of this thymic hormone in the aged reflects a failure of the thymus linked to its impaired neurologic control. On the other hand it seems evident that a feedback system operates in order to regulate the release of this hypothalamus stimulatory factor.