T3 reverses the changes in met-enkephalin and β-endorphin contents in the anterior lobe, but not the neuro-intermediate lobe of the pituitary of rats rendered hypothyroid by PTU-treatment

Abstract

The changes in met-enkephalin and β-endorphin contents in the pituitary in PTU-induced hypothyroidism were studied in the rat. After 2 weeks of PTU-treatment, both IR-met-enkephalin and IR-β-endorphin contents in the pituitary were significantly reduced. Gel filtration chromatography followed by radioimmunoassay showed that the immunoactivities in the peaks of precursors, met-enkephalin, β-lipotropin and β-endorphin were all lower in the pituitaries from the PTU-treated rats. In another experiment, some of the PTU-treated rats were injected daily with 500 μg T3/kg b.w. In the hypothyroid rats, IR-met-enkephalin and IR-β-endorphin contents were decreased in both the anterior and neurointermediate lobes. Only the changes in the anterior lobe were reversed by T3 treatment. In conclusion, while the effects on the anterior lobe are probably due to a deficiency in thyroid hormones, the mechanism for the decrease of opioid peptide contents in the neurointermediate lobe is still unclear.