Autocrine and/or paracrine action of vasoactive intestinal peptide on thyrotropin-releasing hormone induced prolactin release.

Several in vitro studies have demonstrated that vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) modulates basal PRL release in normal and hypothyroid anterior pituitary (AP) cells through an autocrine or paracrine action. As thyroid hormone is an important factor in the regulation of pituitary VIP synthesis and secretion, we analyzed the influence of the absence of thyroid hormone on basal PRL release in vitro to study whether the release of PRL induced by TRH might be mediated by a local action of pituitary VIP. When normal AP cells were cultured in a medium supplemented with a near-physiological concentration of free T2 (0.5 nM), basal PRL and VIP release decreased and PRL secretion was not altered by the blockade of VIP action. This finding allowed us to establish the culture conditions in which basal PRL secretion is apparently not under VIP influence. Consequently, we were able to study whether pituitary VIP may be implicated in TRH-induced PRL release. TRH (100 nM) increased PRL and VIP release in a parallel manner and decreased PRL and VIP intracellular content in incubations from 15-180 min. When AP cells wee incubated simultaneously with TRH and a VIP receptor antagonist, TRH-induced PRL release decreased when incubation lasted more than 30 min, whereas the depletion of PRL intracellular content induced by TRH was unchanged. TRH also slightly increased VIP messenger RNA levels at 3 and 24 h, but PRL messenger RNA levels were not modified. These data demonstrate that pituitary VIP participates in in TRH-induced PRL release and that the effect of thyroid hormone on basal pituitary VIP secretion should be borne in mind when studies on its effect, through autocrine and/or paracrine mechanisms, on PRL release stimulated by PRL-releasing factors are conducted.