| pubmed-article:2472981 | pubmed:abstractText | The effects of prolactin (PRL), alone and together with human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), on steroidogenesis and cAMP accumulation in the preovulatory ovary were studied. Cultured granulosa cells obtained from large preovulatory follicles of pregnant mare serum gonadotropin (PMSG)-treated immature rats were used. The results indicated that PRL inhibited, in a dose-dependent manner, hCG-induced cAMP accumulation and 17 beta-estradiol (E2) secretion. When added to 0.4 IU/ml hCG (designated as 100% activity), 1, 10 and 100 ng/ml PRL decreased cAMP accumulation to 86, 64 and 59%, respectively, following 1 h incubation and to 87, 81 and 66% E2 secretion, respectively, following 48 h incubation. PRL alone failed to cause any significant change in cAMP or E2 concentrations. The inhibition of PRL was apparently not at the hCG receptor level, since a similar inhibitory effect was observed in prostaglandin E1 (PGE1)-induced cAMP accumulation. Nor was the inhibitory pathway of adenylate cyclase involved, since pertussis toxin--an inactivator of the Gi regulatory protein--failed to abolish the suppressive effect of PRL on hCG-induced cAMP accumulation. The phosphodiesterase (PDE) inhibitor, 3-isobutyl-1-methyl-xanthine, abolished the inhibitory effect of PRL on hCG- and PGE1-induced cAMP accumulation and on hCG-induced E2 secretion, indicating that PRL might be inhibiting cAMP accumulation and steroidogenesis in preovulatory granulosa cells by enhancement of PDE activity. | lld:pubmed |
