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Growth is seasonally regulated in goldfish, and the highest
growth rates are found in the early summer after the spring
breeding period (Marchant and Peter, 1986). Growth hormone
secretion from the goldfish anterior pituitary also varies
seasonally (Marchant and Peter, 1986; Trudeau et al., 1992).
Serum growth hormone levels increase during gonadal
development in late autumn and winter, a time when somatic
growth is lowest (Marchant and Peter, 1986; Trudeau et al.,
1992). This increased release of growth hormone probably acts
in concert with gonadotropin-II (GTH-II; the luteinizing-
hormone-like molecule in fish) to stimulate steroidogenesis
(Van Der Kraak et al., 1990; Le Gac et al., 1993) during
seasonal redevelopment of the gonad.
The control of growth hormone release involves both
stimulatory and inhibitory mechanisms. Growth hormone
release in the goldfish is stimulated by bombesin (Himick and
Peter, 1994), dopamine (Chang et al., 1985, 1990; Wong et al.,
1993), thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH; Trudeau et al.,
1992), neuropeptide Y (NPY; Peng et al., 1993), growth
hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH; Vaughan et al., 1992),
gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH; Marchant et al.,
1989a), cholecystokinin (Himick et al., 1993) and pituitary
adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP; Wong et
al., 1998). In contrast, growth hormone release is inhibited by
insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1; Weil et al., 1999),
norepinephrine (Chang et al., 1985), serotonin (Somoza and
Peter, 1991) and somatostatin (SRIF; Marchant et al., 1987).
Interactions among these stimulatory and inhibitory
neuroendocrine systems drive seasonal cyclicity in serum
growth hormone levels (for reviews, see Peter and Marchant,
1995; Trudeau, 1997).
In contrast to the peptidergic and aminergic regulation of
growth hormone release in fish, little information is available
concerning the involvement of amino acid neurotransmitters.
Glutamate, which is converted to γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)
by two molecular forms of glutamic acid decarboxylase in the
1477
The Journal of Experimental Biology 203, 1477–1485 (2000)
Printed in Great Britain © The Company of Biologists Limited 2000
JEB2655
Double-labelling studies at the electron microscopic
level demonstrated that
γγ
-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-
immunoreactive nerve endings are associated with growth-
hormone-secreting cells in the proximal pars distalis of the
goldfish pituitary gland, suggesting that GABA may be
important for the control of growth hormone release in this
species. An in vitro assay for GABA-transaminase activity
demonstrated that the pituitary is a site for the metabolism
of GABA to succinic acid. In vitro, GABA or the GABA
antagonists bicuculline and saclofen did not affect the rate
of growth hormone release from dispersed pituitary cells
in static incubation. In contrast, intracerebroventricular
injection of GABA reduced serum growth hormone levels
within 30min. During the seasonal gonadal cycle,
intraperitoneal injection of GABA was without effect in
sexually regressed goldfish, but caused a significant
decrease in serum growth hormone levels in sexually
recrudescent animals. Intraperitoneal implantation of solid
silastic pellets containing oestradiol increased serum GH
levels fivefold in sexually regressed and recrudescent
goldfish; in both groups, GABA suppressed the oestradiol-
stimulated increase in circulating growth hormone levels.
The effect of oestradiol on basal serum growth hormone
levels was specific since progesterone and testosterone
were without effect. However, in recrudescent animals
treated with progesterone and testosterone, the inhibitory
effects of GABA on serum growth hormone levels were
absent, indicating a differential role for these steroids in
growth hormone release. Taken together, these results
demonstrate that GABA has an inhibitory effect on growth
hormone release in goldfish.
Key words: GABA, γ-aminobutyric acid, immunocytochemistry,
growth hormone, oestradiol, goldfish, Carassius auratus.
Summary
Introduction
THE INHIBITORY EFFECTS OF
γγ
-AMINOBUTYRIC ACID (GABA) ON GROWTH
HORMONE SECRETION IN THE GOLDFISH ARE MODULATED BY SEX STEROIDS
V. L. TRUDEAU
1,
*, O. KAH
2
, J. P. CHANG
3
, B. D. SLOLEY
4
, P. DUBOURG
5
, E. J. FRASER
1
AND R. E. PETER
2
1
Department of Biology, University of Ottawa, PO Box 450, Station A, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1N 6N5,
2
Endocrinologie Moléculaire de la Reproduction, UPRES-A, CNRS-6026, Campus de Beaulieu, Rennes Cedex
35042, France,
3
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2E9,
4
C. V. Technologies Inc., Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2C2 and
5
Neurocytochimie Fonctionelle, URA-CNRS,
339 Avenue des Facultés, Talence Cedex 33405, France
*e-mail: vtrudeau@science.uottawa.ca
Accepted 17 February; published on WWW 6 April 2000
1478
brain (Bosma et al., 1999; Pinal and Tobin, 1998), is localized
in nerve terminals innervating the goldfish anterior pituitary.
Activation of the N-methyl-D-glutamate (NMDA)-type
glutamate receptor rapidly inhibits growth hormone release in
this species (Trudeau et al., 1996). The effects of GABA on
growth hormone release have not been studied in any species
of fish; however, cell bodies containing GABA are located in
hypophysiotrophic areas of the goldfish brain known to be
involved in the control of growth hormone release (Martinoli
et al., 1990). Moreover, GABA is an important neuroendocrine
regulator of the release of other pituitary hormones in fish:
GABA has prominent stimulatory effects on GTH-II release
(Kah et al., 1992; Sloley et al., 1991; Trudeau et al., 1993a,b;
Mañanos et al., 1999) and inhibitory effects on prolactin
release (Prunet et al., 1993). In mammals and birds, GABA has
been reported to have both stimulatory and inhibitory effects
on growth hormone release. In the rat, for example, early
reports indicated that central injection of GABA can either
stimulate (McCann and Rettori, 1988) or inhibit (Fiók et al.,
1984) growth hormone release in adults, depending on the site
of application. In addition, GABA has a direct stimulatory
effect on growth hormone release in vitro from pituitaries of
young rats, whereas GABA has no effect or only slightly
stimulates growth hormone release in adult rats (Fiók et al.,
1984; Ács et al., 1990). The direct stimulatory effect of GABA
in neonatal rats is independent of adrenal, gonadal and thyroid
hormones (Ács et al., 1993). In the chicken, in vitro tissue
culture experiments show that GABA inhibits growth hormone
release in the presence of hypothalamic tissue but not directly
at the pituitary (Hall et al., 1984). These interesting and
conflicting reports led us to test whether GABA has any role
in regulating growth hormone release in goldfish.
Materials and methods
Experimental animals
Common goldfish (Carassius auratus) weighing 15–40g
were purchased throughout the year from commercial
suppliers. Fish were acclimated to 17°C, and fed and
maintained on a simulated natural photoperiod as reported
previously (Trudeau et al., 1991). Fish were anaesthetized by
immersion in 0.05% tricaine methane sulphonate (TMS) prior
to any handling for drug injection, steroid pellet implantation
and blood sampling. Blood samples were taken by puncture of
the caudal vasculature using a 25 gauge needle attached to a
1ml syringe. Blood was allowed to clot for 16–24h, and serum
was collected by centrifugation.
Localization of GABA in the pituitary
Animals were anaesthetized with TMS and decapitated. The
pituitaries were rapidly dissected, fixed with 6.5%
glutaraldehyde in phosphate buffer and cut at a thickness of
40µm with a vibratome. The sections were processed for
GABA pre-embedding immunohistochemistry as described
previously (Kah et al., 1987a, 1992). For electron microscopy,
the sections were flat-embedded, and fragments of interest
were cut to obtain ultrathin sections. These sections were
exposed to salmon growth hormone antibodies and, after
rinsing, to a secondary antibody coupled to 20nm gold
particles (Kah et al., 1987a, 1992).
Metabolism of GABA in the pituitary
An in vitro enzyme assay was used to determine whether the
pituitary was a site for GABA metabolism. Extraction
procedures and determination of GABA-transaminase activity
were performed as described by Sloley and McKenna (1993)
except that a pooled homogenate of 10 pituitaries was
incubated for 1h before separation of
3
H-labelled metabolites
using a tri-octylamine solution. Radioactivity was measured by
pipetting 35µl of supernatant into 4ml of scintillation fluid
(Packard Pico-Fluor 40) and counting in a Packard Tri-Carb
liquid scintillation analyser. The specificity of GABA-
transaminase activity was determined (in triplicate) by
incubating pituitary extracts in the presence of increasing
concentrations (0.01–100µmoll
−1
) of the GABA-transaminase
inhibitor γ-vinyl-GABA (GVG; a gift from Hoechst Marion
Roussel). GVG was added to pituitary extracts (on ice),
incubated for 10min at 37°C and then for 5min on ice before
addition of [
3
H]GABA (Amersham). The effectiveness of
GVG in inhibiting GABA-transaminase activity was
determined by calculating the dose giving 50% inhibition
(IC
50
) using the Prism 2 program (GraphPad Software, Inc.).
The effects of GABA on growth hormone release from
dispersed pituitary cells in vitro
To test whether the effects of GABA in inhibiting growth
hormone release were direct at the level of the pituitary, static
incubation of pituitary cells was carried out as described by
Chang et al. (1990). For a given experiment, 40 pituitaries were
collected from mixed populations of male and female goldfish,
and their cells were dispersed by controlled trypsinization.
Dispersed cells were resuspended in culture medium (Medium
199 with Earle’s salts, Gibco, and containing 2.2gl
−1
NaHCO
3
, 25mmoll
−1
Hepes and 1% horse serum, pH7.2) and
cultured (2.5×10
5
cellsml
−1
) overnight in 24-well culture
plates, with or without 100000unitsl
−1
penicillin and
100mgl
−1
streptomycin. Cells were incubated at 28°C, under
5% CO
2
and at saturated humidity. On the following day, the
culture medium was replaced with testing medium (Medium
199 with Hank’s salts, Gibco, and containing 2.2gl
−1
NaHCO
3
, 25mmoll
−1
Hepes and 0.1% bovine serum albumin,
pH7.2), with or without 100000unitsl
−1
penicillin and
100mgl
−1
streptomycin. A 0.1moll
−1
GABA stock solution
was made up in distilled deionized water and diluted in testing
medium to give final concentrations of 0.001–100µmoll
−1
immediately prior to use. In another experiment, cells were
incubated with 10µmoll
−1
GABA, in the presence or absence
of 100µmoll
−1
of the GABA
A
antagonist bicuculline or
100µmoll
−1
of the GABA
B
antagonist saclofen. GABAergic
drugs for cell culture and in vivo experiments were purchased
from Research Biochemicals International (RBI). Following an
additional 2h of incubation under the conditions described
V. L. TRUDEAU AND OTHERS
1479GABA inhibits growth hormone secretion
above, 750–800µl of medium was carefully removed from
each well and stored at −20°C until the growth hormone
contents were measured by radioimmunoassay. Treatments
were usually tested in triplicate. Growth hormone levels from
replicate experiments were normalized by expressing the data
as a percentage of basal growth hormone release. The viability
and responsiveness of cells were confirmed in parallel
experiments with the same cell preparations using dopamine,
the protein kinase C activator 4-β-tetradecanoyl phorbol
acetate and cGnRH-II, agents known to stimulate growth
hormone release (Chang et al., 1994).
The effects of injection of GABA into the third brain ventricle
on growth hormone release in vivo
For injections into the third brain ventricle, 50µg of GABA
was delivered in 2µl of saline to sexually regressed female
goldfish. These doses of GABA were chosen because we have
shown that they stimulate GTH-II release in vivo in goldfish
(Trudeau et al., 1993b). To control for possible non-specific
effects, the amino acid taurine (50µg per 2µl of saline) was
also injected intracerebroventricularly. Taurine is abundant in
the brain and can stimulate GTH-II release in goldfish (Sloley
et al., 1991); it shares some of the characteristic inhibitory
effects of GABA on neurotransmission (Huxtable, 1989). In
addition, the relative molecular masses of taurine and GABA
are similar and are, respectively, 125 and 103. Animals
(25–35g body mass) were anaesthetized with TMS and placed
in a goldfish stereotaxic apparatus (Peter and Gill, 1975); the
skull was then opened using a circular dental saw. The
injection syringe was gently lowered into the third brain
ventricle, and 2µl of injection fluid was expelled by light
pressure. The syringe was removed, and the fish was returned
to the experimental tank for recovery (<5min) from the
anaesthetic. Blood samples were drawn 30min after
intracerebroventricular injection.
The effects of GABA and sex steroids on growth hormone
release
Preliminary studies indicated that the inhibitory effects of
GABA on growth hormone were dependent on gonadal
status, implicating sex steroids in the control of growth
hormone release. Gonad-intact, sexually regressed or sexually
recrudescent goldfish were implanted for 5 or 10 days with
control or silastic pellets containing progesterone, testosterone
or oestradiol (100µgg
−1
bodymass), as reported by Trudeau et
al. (1991). On the day of experimentation, GABA dissolved in
saline (100µgg
−1
bodymass; purchased from RBI) or saline
control (5µlg
−1
bodymass) was injected intraperitoneally, and
blood samples were taken 30min later. This dose of GABA
and sampling times were based on a preliminary study (not
shown) and also on our previous work in goldfish in which
similar doses of GABA stimulated GTH-II release within
30min (Trudeau et al., 1993b).
Radioimmunoassay
Serum or culture medium growth hormone levels were
measured using a double-antibody radioimmunoassay (RIA)
(Murthy et al., 1993) with common carp growth hormone as
standard. All samples were assayed in duplicate.
Statistical analyses
Growth hormone concentrations in serum or in vitro
incubation medium were analysed by one-way analysis of
variance or Student’s t-test; treatment group means were
considered statistically different at P<0.05.
Results
Immunohistochemical localization of GABA in the pituitary
The anterior pituitary of teleosts has the unique property
of receiving direct innervation, which is the functional
equivalent of the median eminence of tetrapods (Peter et al.,
1990). Furthermore, endocrine cells of the same type are
more or less grouped in specific portions of the anterior
pituitary, allowing the nature of the innervation of a given
cell type to be easily determined. At the light microscope
level (not shown), GABA-immunoreactive fibres were
observed entering the pituitary stalk and digitating in all
lobes of the pituitary, notably the proximal pars distalis,
which contains mainly gonadotrophs and somatotrophs,
confirming our previous studies (Kah et al., 1987a, 1992). At
the electron microscope level (Fig. 1), these fibres were
detected in the neurohypophyseal digitations, but also in
direct contact with the secretory cells. Double-staining
studies at the electron microscope level demonstrated that
GABA-immunoreactive nerve profiles were frequently
associated with growth-hormone-positive cells. These nerve
profiles contained positive neurosecretory granules 60–80 nm
in diameter and, although no clear synaptic differentiation
could be detected apposed to the growth hormone cells,
membrane thickenings facing secretory cells and synaptic-
like vesicles were occasionally detected in the positive nerve
profiles.
Metabolism of GABA in the pituitary
The presence of GABAergic nerve terminals in the pars
distalis suggested that GABA may be released and metabolized
in the pituitary. A sensitive in vitro assay demonstrated
GABA-transaminase activity in the goldfish pituitary. γ-Vinyl-
GABA (GVG), previously characterised as a GABA
metabolism inhibitor in vivo in the goldfish (Sloley et al.,
1991), effectively inhibited specific GABA-transaminase
activity in vitro (Fig. 2). The IC
50
for GVG inhibition of
goldfish pituitary GABA-transaminase was 1.4µmoll
−1
;
100% inhibition was obtained using the highest dose
(100µmoll
−1
) tested.
The effects of GABA on growth hormone release from
dispersed pituitary cells in vitro
Detection of a GABAergic innervation and specific
GABA-transaminase activity in the pituitary suggested that
1480
GABA may directly regulate growth hormone release in
goldfish. In vitro and in vivo approaches were used to address
this possibility. Incubation of dispersed pituitary cells with
1–100µmoll
−1
GABA had no effect on in vitro growth
hormone release (Fig. 3A). The viability and responsiveness
of the cultured growth hormone cells were confirmed by high
levels of basal growth hormone release, and growth-
hormone-release responses to dopamine and 4-β-
tetradecanoyl phorbol acetate (data not shown), consistent
with our extensive data on growth hormone release in vitro
(Chang et al., 1994). In this experiment, the presence of
penicillin and streptomycin in the culture medium was
potentially a concern since penicillin may act as a GABA
antagonist in some circumstances (Macdonald and Olsen,
1994). However, a second experiment using dispersed cells
cultured in the complete absence of penicillin and
streptomycin also indicated that GABA does not directly
affect growth hormone release (Fig. 3B). In this experiment,
high basal levels of release under control conditions were also
noted. Incubation of cells with 1nmoll
−1
to 10µmoll
−1
GABA did not affect growth hormone release (P>0.05). In
another experiment (Fig. 3C), the GABA
A
and GABA
B
receptor antagonists bicuculline and saclofen, respectively,
did not affect growth hormone release either alone or in
combination with GABA (P>0.05). Cell viability and
secretory responses were confirmed by growth-hormone-
release responses to 100nmoll
−1
chicken GnRH-II (control
100±3.5%; chicken GnRH-II, 113.2±3.9%, P<0.05; not
shown).
The effects of injection of GABA into the third brain ventricle
on growth hormone release in vivo
Fig. 4 shows the effect of injection of GABA into the third
brain ventricle on serum growth hormone levels in fish in post-
spawning condition (at the beginning of gonadal regression).
At 30min following central injection, GABA (50µg)
suppressed serum growth hormone levels by approximately
23% (Fig. 4). In contrast, taurine did not affect growth
hormone levels.
V. L. TRUDEAU AND OTHERS
Fig. 1. (A) Electron micrograph at the
level of the proximal pars distalis of the
pituitary showing the presence of γ-
aminobutyric acid (GABA)-positive
profiles (*) located either in digitations of
the neurohypophysis (N) or in direct
contact with growth-hormone-positive
cells (arrowheads). Scale bar, 0.5µm.
(B) High-power view of a GABA-
positive nerve ending (*) in close
association with a growth-hormone-
positive cell. Note the strong labelling of
the secretory vesicles (arrowhead) by
gold particles. Scale bar, 0.5µm.
Fig. 2. Specific γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-transaminase activity
in the goldfish pituitary. Increasing concentrations of γ-vinyl-GABA
(GVG) inhibit GABA-transaminase activity. Values are presented as
means ±
S.E.M.(N=3).
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
4000
4500
0 0.01 0.1 1 10 100
Specific activity (µmol mg
-
1
h
-
1
)
IC
50
= 1.4 µmol l
-
1
[GVG] (µmol l
-
1
)
AB
1481GABA inhibits growth hormone secretion
The effects of GABA and sex steroids on growth hormone
release
In sexually regressed goldfish implanted with control
silastic pellets, GABA injected intraperitoneally
(100µgg
−1
bodymass) did not affect serum growth hormone
levels (Fig. 5). We reasoned that this lack of effect of GABA
might be indicative of the decreased growth hormone
secretory response associated with sexual regression and low
sex steroid levels in the summer (Trudeau et al., 1992).
Therefore, sexually regressed goldfish were treated for 5 days
with silastic implants containing testosterone or oestradiol.
Testosterone alone had no effects on serum growth hormone
levels, and GABA had no effect in the testosterone-treated
group. In contrast, oestradiol treatment caused an
approximately fivefold increase in serum growth hormone
levels (Fig. 5). In the oestradiol-implanted group,
intraperitoneal injection of GABA suppressed growth
hormone release by 50%.
The effects of intraperitoneal injection of GABA in fish in
the early stages of seasonal gonadal redevelopment
(recrudescence) were also tested. In these animals, GABA
suppressed growth hormone release by 50% within 30min of
injection (Fig. 6). Treatment with progesterone or testosterone
alone for 10 days had no effects on basal serum growth
hormone levels compared with fish implanted with silastic
pellets without steroid. However, the inhibitory effects of
injected GABA on serum growth hormone levels found in
control implanted (no steroid) recrudescent fish were absent in
the progesterone- and testosterone-treated fish. Oestradiol
treatment again increased serum growth hormone levels
fivefold, and GABA injection suppressed this stimulated
release by approximately 70% (Fig. 6).
.1
C Bic GABA
+ Bic + Sac
Sac
125
100
75
50
25
0
C 1 100
[GABA] (µmol l
-
1
)
Growth hormone release (% control)
0
25
50
75
100
125
C
1 10
0.10.010.001
[GABA] (µmol l
-
1
)
100
125
0
25
50
75
A
B
C
GABA GABA
10
Fig. 3. The effect of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) on the in vitro
release of growth hormone (GH) from dispersed goldfish pituitary
cells. (A) Values are means +
S.E.M. (N=8–9) and are expressed as a
percentage of control (C) basal GH levels (1179±61ngml
−1
). Cells
derived from pituitaries of sexually mature fish were incubated in the
presence of penicillin and streptomycin. (B) Values are +
S.E.M.
(N=12) and are expressed as a percentage of control (C) basal GH
levels (1062±33ngml
−1
). Cells derived from pituitaries of sexually
regressed fish were incubated in the absence of penicillin and
streptomycin. (C) Values are +
S.E.M. (N=12) and are expressed as a
percentage of control (C) basal GH levels (1143±24ngml
−1
). Cells
derived from pituitaries of sexually regressed fish were incubated in
the absence of penicillin and streptomycin. Drug concentrations
used were 10µmoll
−1
GABA, 100µmoll
−1
Bicuculline (Bic) and
100µmoll
−1
Saclofen (Sac).
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Control
Taurine
GABA
S
erum [GH] (ng ml
-
1
)
a
b
a,b
Fig. 4. The effects of injection of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)
(50µg in 2µl of saline) and taurine (50µg in 2µl of saline) into the
third brain ventricle on serum growth hormone (GH) levels in
sexually regressed female goldfish. Values are +
S.E.M. (N=11).
Means with different superscripts are significantly different
(P<0.05).
1482
Discussion
The presence of GABA and the GABA-metabolising enzyme
GABA-T in the pituitary
The goldfish hypothalamus and pituitary contain high levels
of GABA as determined by HPLC analysis (Sloley et al.,
1991). Double-labelling electron microscopic studies
demonstrated that GABA-producing neurons innervate that
part of the anterior pituitary where somatotroph cells are
located (Fig. 1). The origin of this GABAergic innervation is
unknown. However, retrograde tracing studies have shown that
the preoptic region and the mediobasal hypothalamus, both of
which exhibit high densities of GABA-immunoreactive cell
bodies (Martinoli et al., 1990), are the main hypophysiotrophic
regions in the goldfish brain (Anglade et al., 1993). We have
previously demonstrated that these GABA neurons are
important for the neuroendocrine control of pituitary function
because injection of the GABA-transaminase inhibitor GVG
raises GABA levels by approximately threefold in the preoptic
region, hypothalamus and pituitary, leading to the upregulation
of pituitary GTH-II β-subunit mRNA levels (Trudeau et al.,
2000) and release of GTH-II in vivo (Trudeau et al., 1993b).
We also show that the pituitary contains GABA-transaminase
(Fig. 2) activity, indicating that the pituitary is also an active
site for the metabolism of GABA. The cellular localization of
GABA-T in the pituitary remains to be determined.
GABA inhibits growth hormone release in vivo in goldfish
treated with oestradiol
A few studies in rats have demonstrated that GABA can act
directly at the anterior pituitary (Fiók et al., 1984; Ács et al.,
1990, 1993), but also centrally (McCann and Rettori, 1988;
Ács et al., 1993), to regulate growth hormone release. Despite
the detection of GABA-immunoreactive nerve terminals
apposed to growth-hormone-secreting cells, we were not able
to show that GABA directly affected in vitro release of growth
hormone from dispersed pituitary cells obtained from mature
or regressed goldfish (Fig. 3). However, injection of GABA
into the brain ventricle inhibited release of growth hormone in
post-spawning goldfish (Fig. 4), implicating GABA in the
control of growth hormone secretion in this species. An
inhibitory effect was not seen when GABA was injected
intraperitoneally in sexually regressed fish (Fig. 5). This effect
could have been dose-related, although 100µgg
−1
GABA is
effective in stimulating GTH-II release in sexually regressed
goldfish (Trudeau et al., 1993b). In contrast, the 100µgg
−1
dose of GABA inhibited growth hormone release when
injected intraperitoneally into fish in the early stages of gonadal
recrudescence (Fig. 6), suggesting that gonadal steroids may
modulate the action of GABA.
Indeed, GABA clearly inhibited growth hormone release in
both regressed and recrudescent animals treated with oestradiol
to increase basal levels of growth hormone secretion (Figs 5,
6). This action of GABA in inhibiting growth hormone release
within 30min is very robust considering that oestradiol
increases pituitary growth hormone content and enhances
V. L. TRUDEAU AND OTHERS
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Control
GABA
Testo
Testo GABA
E2
E2 GABA
‡
*
Serum [GH] (ng ml
-
1
)
Fig. 5. The effects of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)
(100µgg
−1
bodymass) on growth hormone (GH) release in
sexually regressed female goldfish implanted for 5 days with
testosterone (Testo) or oestradiol (E2). *P<0.01, oestradiol
stimulates GH release. ‡P<0.05, GABA inhibits GH release in
oestradiol-treated fish. Values are means +
S.E.M. (N=10–12). Note
that the error for the group treated with GABA alone is too small to
observe.
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
Control
GABA
P4
P4 GABA
Testo
Testo GABA
E2
E
2 GABA
‡
*
Serum [GH] (ng ml
-
1
)
‡
Fig. 6. The effect of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)
(100µgg
−1
bodymass) on growth hormone (GH) release in
sexually recrudescent female goldfish implanted for 10 days
with testosterone (Testo), progesterone (P4) or oestradiol (E2).
*P<0.01, oestradiol stimulates GH release. ‡P<0.05, GABA
inhibits GH release in control and oestradiol-treated fish. Values
are means +
S.E.M. (N=10–12). Note that the errors for the groups
treated with P4 plus GABA or testosterone alone are too small to
observe.
1483GABA inhibits growth hormone secretion
growth hormone secretion for at least 10 days (Zou et al.,
1997). The effects of oestradiol on serum growth hormone
levels were different from those of the other steroids tested.
Progesterone and testosterone did not affect basal serum
growth hormone levels. However, recrudescent animals treated
with progesterone or testosterone did not respond to the
inhibitory effects of GABA on serum growth hormone levels
(Fig. 6), indicating a differential role for these steroids on
growth hormone release. Contrasting effects of the sex steroids
on GABA synthesis have also been observed in the goldfish
hypophysiotropic system. For example, oestradiol increased,
whereas both testosterone and progesterone decreased, GABA
synthesis in the pituitary (Trudeau et al., 1993a).
The site of GABA action for inhibiting growth hormone
release in vivo
GABA could be inhibiting growth hormone release either
by direct actions on the somatotroph or indirectly via the
release of other neurotransmitters or neuropeptides. GABA or
GABA antagonists did not affect in vitro growth hormone
release from dispersed pituitary cells that were responsive to
GnRH. Lesioning of the preoptic region and basal
hypothalamus has shown that, in vivo, growth hormone
release in the goldfish is under tonic inhibition by somatostatin
(Marchant et al., 1989b). In contrast, for pituitary cells in
vitro, these predominant inhibitory influences have been
removed. Therefore, dispersed pituitary cells of the goldfish
typically secrete high levels of growth hormone in vitro. In
this situation of high basal release, GABA did not inhibit
growth hormone release over a wide range of doses
administered in vitro to goldfish pituitary cells in static
culture. In contrast, intracerebroventricular injection of
GABA reduced serum growth hormone levels. In Atlantic
salmon, at least, GABA
A
receptor subunits have been
demonstrated immunohistochemically throughout the
preoptic–hypophysiotropic system (Anzelius et al., 1995).
Using patch-clamp electrophysiology, we have demonstrated
functional inhibitory GABA
A
receptors in the ventral preoptic
area of goldfish (Trudeau et al., 2000). In goldfish, GABA
injected into the third brain ventricle could activate preoptic
GABA receptors to decrease serum growth hormone levels,
suggesting a central site of action. However, the modest
reduction of growth hormone levels following
intracerebroventricular injection compared with the more
obvious effects of intraperitoneally injected GABA suggest
that GABA may be acting predominantly on
hypophysiotrophic nerve terminals rather than centrally.
Alternatively, intracerebroventricularly injected GABA could
be rapidly degraded by GABA-T or removed from interstitial
spaces in the brain by GABA transporters, thus attenuating the
growth-hormone-release response. Although we cannot yet
entirely rule out a direct action of GABA on somatotrophs
under some other physiological conditions that we have not
yet tested, the currently available data suggest that GABA
probably acts indirectly, through unidentified neuronal
systems, to inhibit growth hormone release. Studies in the
chicken also demonstrate that the inhibitory effects of GABA
on growth hormone release are indirect (Hall et al., 1984).
Possible mechanisms for GABAergic inhibition of growth
hormone release
Studies in the rat indicate that GABA can stimulate growth
hormone release by inhibiting somatostatin-secreting neurons
(McCann and Rettori, 1988). In goldfish, a similar effect of
GABA on somatostatin release is not a likely mechanism for
the GABAergic inhibition of growth hormone release observed
here. An inhibition of somatostatin release would lead to
stimulation rather than inhibition of growth hormone release
in the goldfish model. In goldfish, GABA has been shown
to stimulate GnRH release (Kah et al., 1992), and GnRH
stimulates growth hormone release (Marchant et al., 1989a),
especially in oestradiol-treated animals (Trudeau et al., 1992).
These observations do not support the involvement of GnRH
in the GABAergic inhibition of growth hormone release.
GABA could also act by suppressing dopaminergic activity.
We have previously shown that GABA can inhibit dopamine
turnover in the goldfish hypothalamo–pituitary axis (Trudeau
et al., 1993a), and dopamine, through the activation of a
pituitary D1 receptor, stimulates growth hormone release
(Wong et al., 1993; Chang et al., 1994). Preoptic dopamine
neurones also innervate the anterior pituitary, in which the
somatotrophs are localized (Kah et al., 1987b), and
GABA/dopamine axo-axonal interactions are therefore
possible. In a preliminary study (V. L. Trudeau, unpublished
data), the GABA metabolism inhibitor GVG
(300µgg
−1
bodymass injected intraperitoneally) given alone
had no effect on serum growth hormone levels compared with
saline-injection in sexually regressed control fish. This is
consistent with the lack of effect of intraperitoneally injected
GABA in regressed fish documented in the present study.
However, in the preliminary study, when GVG was given in
combination with the tyrosine hydroxylase inhibitor α-methyl-
p-tyrosine (240µgg
−1
bodymass injected intraperitoneally) to
inhibit dopamine synthesis, a significant inhibitory effect on
serum growth hormone levels was observed. It may be that the
potent stimulatory dopamine input to growth-hormone-
secreting cells overrides the inhibitory effects of GABA,
especially in sexually regressed animals. Further analysis
of GABA/dopamine interactions within the goldfish
hypophysiotrophic system is clearly warranted.
The GABA receptor subtypes mediating inhibition of
growth hormone release were not studied. Our previous work
in goldfish indicated that GABA stimulated GTH-II release by
activating the GABA
A
-type receptor, and an additional
stimulatory component dependent on the GABA
B
receptor was
also evident (Trudeau et al., 1993b). These functional studies
indicate the presence of the two GABA receptor subtypes, and
their respective roles in controlling growth hormone release in
the goldfish remain to be determined.
Concluding remarks
The present series of experiments suggests that GABA is
1484
involved in the inhibitory control of growth hormone release.
This contrasts with the stimulatory effects of GABA on GTH-
II release in goldfish (Kah et al., 1992; Sloley et al., 1991;
Trudeau et al., 1993a,b) and trout (Mañanos et al., 1999).
GABAergic neurons projecting to somatotrophs and
gonadotrophs (Kah et al., 1987a, 1992), therefore,
differentially regulate the secretory activity of these two
adjacent cell types within the anterior pituitary. Furthermore,
we have previously demonstrated that GVG concomitantly
upregulates the expression of mRNA for the secretory vesicle
protein secretogranin-II (SgII) and decreases the cell content
of GTH-II in gonadotrophs, indicating a GABAergic activation
of a regulated secretory pathway (Blázquez et al., 1998). In
contrast, in the same experiment, GVG did not alter
somatotroph SgII mRNA levels, yet increased cell growth
hormone content. We interpret this as inhibition of growth
hormone secretion by GABA, which supports our results
showing that GABA injections reduce serum growth hormone
levels in maturing goldfish. We have also presented evidence
that oestradiol modulates the GABAergic control of growth
hormone release in goldfish. This latter observation is
especially significant because it is known that growth hormone
stimulates ovarian oestradiol production (Van Der Kraak et al.,
1990; Le Gac et al., 1993) and oestradiol, in turn, enhances
growth hormone production and release (Trudeau et al., 1992;
Zou et al., 1997). Oestradiol can increase dopamine turnover
in the goldfish hypothalamus and pituitary (Trudeau et al.,
1993a), which would contribute to a positive feedback
regulation of growth hormone release. Conversely, oestradiol
increases hypothalamic and pituitary GABA synthesis
(Trudeau et al., 1993a), and GABA inhibits growth hormone
release in maturing or oestradiol-treated animals. We
hypothesise that the GABAergic neurons in the preoptic region
and/or hypothalamus are part of a gonadal feedback system
controlling growth hormone secretion. Additional studies are
required to characterize fully the receptor subtypes, site and
mechanism of GABA action involved in the inhibition of
growth hormone release.
The authors acknowledge with appreciation the help of C.
S. Nahorniak and C. K. Murthy (Edmonton) with
radioimmunoassay, J. G. Dulka (Omaha) with brain injections
and A. Nisbet (Aberdeen) with IC
50
calculations. The
donations of H. Kawauchi (purified carp growth hormone;
Kitasato University, Japan) and E. Bohme (GVG; Hoechst
Marion Roussel Research Institute, Ohio, USA) for these
studies is greatly appreciated. This work was supported by the
NSERC (V.L.T, R.E.P. and J.P.C), Wellcome Trust U.K.
(V.L.T.), AHFMR (B.D.S.) and the BBSRC (E.J.F.).
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