Osmotic control of the release of prolactin and thyrotropin in euthyroid subjects and patients with pituitary tumors.

The effects of acute changes in serum osmolality on basal serum PRL and TSH levels and on responses of prolactin (PRL) and thyrotropin (TSH) to the thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) analogue, N3im-methyl-TRH, were studied in ten euthyroid subjects and in three patients with PRL-secreting pituitary tumors. An oral water load of 20 ml/kg had no effect on basal serum PRL or TSH levels but did result in an increased PRL response to methyl-TRH in the ten euthyroid patients. Intravenous infusion of 5% sodium chloride in the ten euthyroid subjects significantly depressed basal serum PRL levels but had no effect on the PRL response to methyl-TRH. Infusion of hypertonic saline significantly decreased the TSH response to methyl-TRH. In the three patients with pituitary tumors, oral water loading and hypertonic saline infusion had no significant effect on the basal serum PRL and TSH or the PRL and TSH responses to methyl-TRH. The patients with pituitary tumors had a higher basal serum osmolality and a proportionately higher serum concentration of arginine vasopressin than the euthyroid patients. These data suggest that changes in osmolality in euthyroid patients may have a direct effect on the anterior pituitary's PRL and TSH response to a releasing factor.