Plasma thyroxine levels in freshwater perch: influence of season, gonadotropins, and gonadal hormones.

Plasma thyroxine (T4) of a freshwater female perch Anabas testudineus (Bloch) has been measured by specific radioimmunoassay (RIA). Monitoring of plasma T4 throughout the year showed that July to early September (spawning stage) had the highest T4 and late September to January (postspawning stage) had the lowest T4. The plasma T4 cycle was coincident with the ovarian cycle. Treatment of intact perch with salmon gonadotropin (SG-G100) or ovine LH (500 ng/100 g body wt) markedly enhanced plasma T4 levels. Ovine FSH was without any effect. Ovarian steroids, estrone and 17 beta-estradiol (100 ng/100 g body wt), also significantly augmented T4 level whereas estriol or progesterone had no such effect. There was a striking fall of plasma T4 in ovariectomized fish. The drop of T4 due to ovariectomy could not be reversed by SG-G100 but administration of estrone or 17 beta-estradiol to ovariectomized fish effectively reversed the drop of plasma T4 level. These findings suggest that gonadotropin's stimulatory effect on perch thyroid is mediated via the release of ovarian steroids.