Stimulatory effect of perhexiline maleate on the basal and LHRH-stimulated luteinizing hormone release from rat pituitary cell aggregates in vitro.

Perhexiline maleate (PM) is an anti-anginal agent of amphiphilic character involved in lipidosis disorders. Experiments were carried out to study PM action on LH release from rat anterior pituitary cell aggregates. PM caused significant and dose-dependent increases of basal LH release when the aggregates had been previously treated with PM for 20 min, then incubated for 30 min with the same concentration of drug after renewal of the culture medium. The increases of basal LH secretion induced by PM were 69% (p < 0.001) at a concentration of 10(-7)M, 130% (p < 0.001) at a concentration of 10(-5)M and 250% (p < 0.001) at a concentration of 10(-4)M. PM also increased the LHRH-stimulated LH release by 25.5% (p < 0.05) at a concentration of 10(-5)M and by 74.5% (p < 0.01) at the concentration of 10(-4)M. The results showed that PM was more potent on basal LH release than on LH stimulated by LHRH. The mechanism of this action remains unclear. It may be due to the lipidosis property of the drug.