Oxytocin mediates the hypothalamic action of vasoactive intestinal peptide to stimulate prolactin secretion.

The ability of centrally administered vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) to stimulate PRL secretion when injected intracerebroventricularly could be due to leakage to the pituitary, where it is known to exert direct PRL-releasing activity, or to a hypothalamic action on its own release or that of another possible PRL-releasing factor. When 3 micrograms VIP were injected into the third ventricle of conscious ovariectomized rats, a significant (P less than 0.005) and transient elevation of plasma oxytocin (OT) levels was observed. When OVX rats were injected iv with 1 ml anti-OT serum 30 min before the central administration of 3 micrograms VIP, the PRL surge seen after VIP injection in normal rabbit serum-treated controls was completely absent. The PRL surge seen after central VIP administration was not significantly altered by iv saline infusion (1 ml over 30 min) or by infusion of a VIP antagonist [D-4-Cl-Phe6,Leu17]VIP at a dose of 0.5 microgram/kg.min in 1 ml saline for 30 min before the VIP injection. This was not due to the inability of the VIP antagonist to block the PRL-releasing factor activity of VIP, since it significantly antagonized that action both in vitro and in vivo in the suckling stimulation paradigm. However, the PRL surge was completely absent in ovariectomized rats pretreated by iv infusion of an OT antagonist, [deamino Cys1,D-Trp2,Val4,Orn8]OT, at a similar dose. This recruitment of OT by VIP indicates that it may act at more than one locus within the hypothalamo-pituitary axis to insure the coordinated control of PRL secretion.