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GABA directly affects electrophysiological properties of pituitary pars intermedia cells

Nature volume 299, pages 733–734 (1982)Cite this article

Abstract

Evidence that the endocrine cells of the pars intermedia of the mammalian pituitary gland secrete not only melanotropins but corticotropins and endorphins1 heightens interest in the nervous control of these cells. Within the mammalian adenohypophysis the pars intermedia is unique in being directly innervated by neurones whose cell bodies lie in the brain2. However, the nature and function of this innervation is poorly understood. A dopaminergic tract has been identified in rats3,4, which appears to have an inhibitory function5, and dopamine applied directly to isolated rat pars intermedia cells inhibits both the discharge of spontaneous action potentials6 and secretion7,8. In addition, recent immunohistochemical studies in rats indicate that central neurones which apparently contain γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) also project to the pars intermedia9,10. Here we report that in the same species GABA directly affects the electrophysiological properties of endocrine cells isolated from the pars intermedia and that the ionic and pharmacological characteristics of this action of GABA resemble those encountered at many GABAergic synapses in the central nervous system (CNS). We conclude that the brain can influence the endocrine cells of the pars intermedia directly through GABAergic mechanisms.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacology, Yale University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, Connecticut, 06510, USA

    P. S. Taraskevich & W. W. Douglas

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  1. P. S. Taraskevich
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  2. W. W. Douglas
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Taraskevich, P., Douglas, W. GABA directly affects electrophysiological properties of pituitary pars intermedia cells. Nature 299, 733–734 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1038/299733a0

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