McGivern R F, Redei E
Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, CA 92120.
Physiol Behav. 1994 Jun;55(6):1147-50. doi: 10.1016/0031-9384(94)90402-2.
An inhibitory effect of stress on reproductive function is well established. This inhibition involves activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which leads to a suppression of LH secretion. It has been proposed that this suppression is mediated by a direct effect of CRF that is independent of glucocorticoid actions. We tested this proposition by examining plasma LH levels in adult rats that were both ovariectomized (OVX) and adrenalectomized (ADX). Each animal was surgically implanted with an indwelling atrial cannula and exposed to intermittent foot shock for 100 min. Blood samples were drawn just prior to putting the animals into the test cage and then at 20-min intervals. Results revealed normal castrate levels of plasma LH in both ADX and ADX/OVX animals prior to shock. A significant shock-induced suppression of LH was observed in OVX animals within 20 min after the onset of shock and remained throughout the duration of the session. In contrast, no evidence was obtained for a suppression of LH in OVX/ADX animals at any time point. Additional studies demonstrated a marked suppression of LH in experimentally naive OVX/ADX females implanted with corticosterone capsules for 2 weeks prior to blood sampling. Overall, these results support a primary role for glucocorticoid actions in the stress-induced inhibition of reproductive function.
应激对生殖功能的抑制作用已得到充分证实。这种抑制涉及下丘脑 - 垂体 - 肾上腺（HPA）轴的激活，从而导致促黄体生成素（LH）分泌受到抑制。有人提出，这种抑制是由促肾上腺皮质激素释放因子（CRF）的直接作用介导的，且独立于糖皮质激素的作用。我们通过检测成年去卵巢（OVX）和去肾上腺（ADX）大鼠的血浆LH水平来验证这一观点。每只动物均通过手术植入一根留置心房插管，并暴露于间歇性足部电击100分钟。在将动物放入测试笼之前以及之后每隔20分钟采集血样。结果显示，在电击前，ADX和ADX/OVX动物的血浆LH水平均处于正常去势水平。在电击开始后20分钟内，OVX动物的LH受到显著的电击诱导抑制，并在整个实验过程中持续存在。相比之下，在任何时间点均未观察到OVX/ADX动物的LH受到抑制。进一步的研究表明，在采血前2周植入皮质酮胶囊的未经实验的OVX/ADX雌性动物中，LH受到显著抑制。总体而言，这些结果支持糖皮质激素作用在应激诱导的生殖功能抑制中起主要作用。
