Angiotensins stimulate in vitro ovulation and contraction of brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) follicles.

The effects of salmon angiotensin I (sAI) and human angiotensin II (hAII) on in vitro ovulation of preovulatory (preOV) brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) follicles were investigated. Both angiotensins increased levels of ovulation above that in controls after 12 hours of incubation. The increase was statistically significant in incubates with greater than 1 μM hAII. The effects of the angiotensins on follicle contraction were also studied indirectly by measuring the decrease in weight of punctured follicles taken prior to germinal vesicle breakdown. At 1 μM, both angiotensins significantly decreased the weight of punctured follicles after 16 hours of incubation. The angiotensin-stimulated decrease in weight was not blocked by indomethacin (10 μg/ml), indicating that follicle contraction was not prostaglandin-dependent. The data indicate that angiotensins might be directly involved in brook trout ovulation and the stimulatory effects of angiotensins on ovulation may be attributed to their effects on follicle contraction.