Effects of intraventricular taurine, homotaurine and GABA on serum prolactin and thyrotropin levels in female and in male rats.

Serum prolactin and thyrotropin levels of conscious, unrestrained male and female rats were compared after intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) administration of taurine, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and homotaurine. The amino acids studied had no clear effect on serum basal thyrotropin levels in male or female rats. All amino acids elevated serum prolactin levels in female rats at the dose of 5 mumol/rat; homotaurine by about 18-fold, taurine and GABA by 3-fold. Only homotaurine elevated serum prolactin of male rats at this dose, but its effect was less pronounced (p < 0.01) in male than in female rats. Although homotaurine was clearly more potent than the two other amino acids, at the dose of 10 mumol/rat taurine and GABA also elevated serum prolactin in male rats. These findings show that there are gender-related differences in the responses of serum prolactin levels to homotaurine, taurine and GABA in rats. The tuberoinfundibular dopaminergic pathway, which exerts tonic inhibitory influence on prolactin secretion, is sexually differentiated. Hence the gender-related differences in the effects of the amino acids on prolactin secretion suggest that they might inhibit dopamine release from the median eminence. In case of homotaurine, the gender effect was most pronounced. The less clear dependence of GABA's effect on the gender is in accordance with the suggestions that GABA influences the secretion of serum prolactin by more than one mechanism.