Sexually dimorphic age-related changes in the distribution of immunoreactive luteinizing hormone releasing hormone in the platyfish.

In this study on platyfish we demonstrate that the distribution and intensity of immunoreactive luteinizing hormone releasing hormone (ir-LHRH) in the brain and pituitary gland fluctuate at specific ages between 8 and 30 months. These changes are not the same in males and females, and they vary for each LHRH-containing region in the brain. In males, ir-LHRH intensity is greatest in the nucleus olfactoretinalis (NOR), nucleus preopticus periventricularis (NPP) and nucleus lateralis tuberis (NLT) at 18 months of age. In females, by comparison, the NOR displays the same degree of immunoreactivity at all ages examined, as does the NLT, where ir-LHRH perikarya are absent at all ages and immunoreactivity is restricted to a few fibers. In the NPP, females show fluctuations similar to those seen in males, however, the intensity of ir-LHRH is always less, and the number of ir-LHRH perikarya appear to be fewer, than in males. Thus, the age-related changes in LHRH systems in platyfish follow different patterns in males and females. Our study clearly indicates that immunocytochemical data must be evaluated with caution and that only after the age and sex of the animal and the maturational state of the gonads have been carefully scrutinized, can meaningful interpretations be made.