Plasma and pituitary prolactin levels in rainbow trout during adaptation to different salinities.

The development of a highly specific radioimmunoassay for salmonid prolactin (PRL) using chinook salmon PRL allowed us to study plasma and pituitary PRL profiles in large sedentary rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) transferred from fresh water to seawater and vice versa. Plasma osmotic pressure and chloride levels were also measured for 3 weeks following change of salinity. Within 1 day after transfer to full seawater we observed a plasma PRL decrease, which stayed significantly lower (3-5 ng/ml) than the fresh water control group (10-15 ng/ml) during the entire experiment. Pituitary PRL content showed an initial abrupt increase, but after 3 weeks in seawater pituitary PRL content had decreased to the same level as in the fresh water control group. On the contrary, transfer from seawater to fresh water was followed within 1 day by a rise in plasma PRL levels, which stayed high (10-15 ng/ml) after 3 weeks in fresh water. Simultaneously, pituitary PRL content decreased significantly. These results may indicate an important role of PRL in fresh water adaptation of sedentary rainbow trout.