Effect of fetal alcohol exposure on postnatal pituitary adenosine 3', 5'-cyclic phosphate content and growth hormone release.

This study examines the influence of fetal ethanol (ETOH) exposure and pair-feeding dams on postnatal, releasing factor-induced pituitary growth hormone (GH) release and adenosine 3',5'-cyclic phosphate (cAMP) accumulation. Fetuses were exposed to ETOH in utero by feeding dams a 36% (calories derived from ETOH: 6.6% v/v) ETOH liquid diet. Postnatal body weights were measured at sacrifice to evaluate the influence of ETOH on growth. Pituitary weight and protein content were measured to determine if changes in GH secretion or cAMP are proportional to the overall effect of ETOH on the pituitary. Pituitaries from 1-, 10-, and 60-day-old pups were explanted and incubated without hormones or with either somatostatin [somatotropin-release inhibiting factor (SRIF); 10(-9) M], or GH-releasing factor (GRF; 5 x 10(-9) M). Radioimmunoassays were used to determine tissue cAMP content, after extraction, and media GH concentration. Results indicate that fetal ETOH exposure specifically reduces the weight of both male and female pups. However, by 60 days of age, this reduction is not different from that found in pups of pair-fed controls, and both groups weighed less than pups of ad libitum controls. Furthermore, both pituitary weight and protein content were proportionately reduced in ETOH-exposed pups. In regard to releasing factor sensitivity, compared with pituitaries from ad libitum controls, the capacity of GRF to simulate GH release was diminished in 10-day-old males (p < 0.006) exposed to ETOH. On the other hand, the capacity of GRF to stimulate cAMP accumulation was generally enhanced by prenatal ETOH exposure. The capacity of SRIF to depress GH release was diminished in ETOH pups, compared with both pair-fed and ad libitum-fed controls (p < 0.0001). This difference in GH release was more apparent in pituitaries from females than males (p < 0.001). However, the depressed SRIF response was not associated with altered cAMP accumulation. These data suggest that fetal ETOH exposure has a sexually dimorphic effect on pituitary sensitivity to GH-releasing factors that may be related to altered regulation of GH release and susceptibility to growth retardation.