Dopaminergic and beta-adrenergic receptor control of alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone secretion during stress.

The relative roles of dopaminergic and beta-adrenergic receptors in mediating the stress-induced increase in the secretion of alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH) from the intermediate lobe of the pituitary were determined in the male rat. Thirty minutes of physical immobilization (restraint stress) increased the circulating concentrations of alpha-MSH and decreased the 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid/dopamine (DOPAC/DA) ratio in the intermediate lobe of the pituitary, reflecting a decrease in the tuberohypophysial dopaminergic neuronal activity. Pretreatment with the beta-adrenergic antagonist propranolol reduced the stress-induced increase in the circulating levels of alpha-MSH, but had no effect on the basal plasma concentrations of this hormone or the stress-induced decrease in DOPAC/DA in the intermediate lobe. If the dopaminergic tone during stress was maintained by administration of the DA agonist apomorphine, the stress-induced increase in alpha-MSH secretion was prevented. In nonstressed animals the administration of the beta 2-adrenergic agonist metaproterenol increased the plasma levels of alpha-MSH, and the effect of this drug was augmented if the inhibitory dopaminergic tone on alpha-MSH secretion was blocked by the administration of the DA antagonist haloperidol. Severing neurons in the retrochiasmatic region of the hypothalamus blocked the stress-induced decrease in DOPAC/DA in the intermediate lobe and attenuated the stress-induced increase in plasma concentrations of alpha-MSH. Taken together, these results indicate that a decrease in tuberohypophysial dopaminergic neuronal inhibitory tone and an increase in beta-adrenergic stimulation are both necessary for the full expression of the stress-induced increase in secretion of alpha-MSH from melanotrophs in the intermediate lobe of the rat pituitary.