Inhibitory actions of acute estradiol treatment on the activity and quantity of tyrosine hydroxylase in the median eminence of ovariectomized rats.

Abstract The effects of acute estradiol (E(2)) treatment on both the activity of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) in the median eminence and the serum level of prolactin (PRL) were investigated. Twelve-day-ovariectomized rats were injected with 17beta-E(2) (25mug sc) at 1100 h and sacrificed hourly from 1200 to 2300 h. TH activity was quantified by measuring the amount of exogenous tyrosine converted to L-DOPA in vitro by aliquots of median eminence homogenates. Serum PRL levels were evaluated by radioimmunoassay. A biphasic response of TH activity to treatment was observed: an immediate decrease occurred-preceding and accompanying a rise in serum PRL-followed by an increase beyond control levels 2 h after the maximal release of PRL. The increase in TH activity could be prevented by the pretreatment of rats with a specific rat PRL antiserum, suggesting it was not due to E(2) per se but rather mediated by the E(2)-induced PRL elevation. To pin-point the process underlying the E(2)-induced decrease in TH activity, we evaluated the kinetic parameters of TH in the median eminence as well as its quantity (by Western blot analysis) in the median eminence and arcuate nucleus. Finally, we used a sensitive dot-blot assay to quantify specific TH messenger ribonucleic acid in the arcuate nucleus. The decrease in TH activity after E(2) treatment paralleled an immediate decrease in the affinity of TH for its pterin cofactor (6-MPH4), while V(max) remained unchanged. A decrease in the amount of TH protein in the arcuate nucleus and median eminence as well as in the TH messenger ribonucleic acid level in the arcuate nucleus was also observed, but the latency of these effects precluded a major involvement in the immediate decline of TH activity. Therefore, when observed separately from those of PRL, E(2) effects on TH in tuberoinfundibular dopaminergic neurons are clearly inhibitory consisting of a 'deactivation' of the enzyme together with a reduction of its synthesis.