Effects of dopamine and norepinephrine on in vitro spontaneous and gonadotropin-releasing hormone-induced gonadotropin release by dispersed cells or fragments of the goldfish pituitary.

Enzymatically dispersed goldfish pituitary cells or freshly prepared goldfish pituitary fragments continue to secrete gonadotropin spontaneously in a column perifusion system. After the establishment of basal secretion rates, treatment of dispersed pituitary cells with 5 and 500 nM dopamine, or pituitary fragments with 50 and 100 nM dopamine, decreased the amount of gonadotropin released into the perifusate. Perifusion with 500 nM dopamine also abolished the gonadotropin-release response to a 10 nM solution of a luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone analogue in both perifusion systems. Perifusion of pituitary dispersed cells or fragment preparations obtained from sexually regressed goldfish with 50 nM norepinephrine consistently increased the amount of gonadotropin released into the perifusate. These results provide in vitro evidence for direct dopamine inhibition of spontaneous gonadotropin release, blockade by dopamine of gonadotropin-releasing hormone actions, and norepinephrine stimulation of gonadotropin secretion in goldfish.