Corticotropin-releasing factor stimulates metamorphosis and increases thyroid hormone concentration in prometamorphic Rana perezi larvae.

Attempts to identify a hypothalamic molecule that stimulates thyrotropin (TSH) secretion from amphibian pituitary have been unsuccessful to date. The effects of mammalian (ovine and human) corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) on the thyroid function of prometamorphic (Taylor & Kollros stages XI-XVII) (Taylor and Kollros, 1946) Rana perezi larvae were studied. Chronic treatments with both ovine and human CRF (oCRF, hCRF) stimulated metamorphosis while delaying larval growth. Chronic hCRF (1 microgram) administration induced 3.2- and 5.3-fold increases in whole body concentration of thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3), respectively. In contrast, the 0.5-microgram dose of hCRF stimulated a significant (3.4-fold) increase in whole body concentration of T4 but not of T3. Histological studies of the thyroid gland revealed a 22% increase in the number of follicles per section as a result of the chronic treatment with oCRF (1 microgram). Acute oCRF (2 micrograms) treatment induced a significant increase in T4 concentration at 4 hr (1.3-fold) and 8 hr (2.3-fold) postinjection. T3 concentration was not altered. These results support previous reports and lead us to conclude that a CRF-like peptide, and not TRH, is involved in the regulation of thyroid activity in anuran amphibians during metamorphosis.