Changes in plasma gonadotropin after ovariectomy and estradiol supplementation at different stages at the end of the reproductive cycle in the rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri R.).

To determine the effect of gonadal feedback on plasma GTH level, female rainbow trout were ovariectomized at three stages at the end of the reproductive cycle: at the end of vitellogenesis, during germinal vesicle migration and during the post-ovulatory period. A group of controls and one of castrates in each experiment were given an injection of physiological salt solution, and a third group of castrates was supplemented with estradiol-17 beta (E2) twice a week (200 micrograms/kg) from the day of surgery. The blood was sampled twice a week, and the GTH measured by RIA. At the end of vitellogenesis, castration induced a significant rise in the gonadotropic hormone level (P less than 0.001 from post-surgical day 5), and that response, unimpeded by E2, was homogeneous in all the fish. During germinal vesicle migration, the response to castration and to supplementary E2 varied with the individual. Ovariectomy induced a significant increase in GTH (P less than 0.005 from day 3), but that increase was immediate in 5 females and delayed in the other 4; E2 prevented GTH rise in only 6 females. At the post-ovulatory period we found no significant difference between the control fish and the castrates and E2, at least temporarily, prevented the post-ovulatory rise in GTH which is usually found in trout.