Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) potentiates the gonadotropin-releasing activity of luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone.

In order to determine if the newly discovered neuropeptide, pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP), interacts with the known hypothalamic releasing factors to modulate pituitary hormone secretion, the effect of PACAP, either alone or in combination with either LHRH, TRH, CRF or GHRH, was examined in rat anterior pituitary cell cultures. While PACAP alone weakly stimulated LH and FSH release, PACAP and LHRH, in combination, interacted synergistically to stimulate gonadotropin secretion. No significant changes in the secretion of either TSH, ACTH, or GH were observed in response to PACAP, either alone or in combination with the other releasing factors. Addition of an LHRH antagonist demonstrated that the PACAP effect on gonadotropin release was neither mediated by the LHRH receptor nor the result of LHRH contamination of the PACAP preparation. Because of the sequence homology (68%) between the N-terminal 28 amino acids of PACAP and VIP, the addition of a VIP antagonist was used to demonstrate that the PACAP effect is not mediated through the VIP receptor. The observation that PACAP interacts synergistically with LHRH in stimulating gonadotropin release suggests intriguing possibilities for PACAP in regulating gonadotropin secretion and reproductive function.