Insulin-induced hypoglycemia decreases luteinizing hormone secretion in the castrated male rat: involvement of opiate peptides.

Insulin-induced hypoglycemia (IIH) has been reported to inhibit luteinizing hormone (LH) secretion in ovariectomized ewes as well as in intact or gonadectomized female rhesus monkeys. An infusion of naloxone, a specific opiate receptor antagonist, while able to prevent this inhibitory effect in ewes, was ineffective in monkeys, suggesting a difference in the mechanisms involved in the response to IIH in these two species. The present study was designed to investigate the influence of this stimulus on the dynamics of LH release and the possible activation of an opioidergic pathway in the long-term castrated male rat. Blood samples were collected every 7 min, for several hours, in freely-moving rats bearing a jugular cannula. The intravenous injection of 0.4 IU of insulin triggered an acute hypoglycemia and reduced LH release. In contrast, during a continuous intravenous naloxone infusion (0.5 mg/kg/h), insulin, while still lowering the glycemia, failed to affect the LH secretory pattern. In a control experiment, naloxone infusion alone had no significant effect on mean LH concentration and pulse intervals. These experiments indicate that, in long-term gonadectomized male rats, IIH impairs the LH secretory pattern, and that endogenous opioid peptides are involved in this response.