EFFECT OF RESERPINE ON PITUITARY PROLACTIN CONTENT AND ITS HYPOTHALAMIC SITE OF ACTION IN THE RABBIT

Abstract

A single intravenous dose of reserpine (0.5 mg/kg) lowers the level of pituitary prolactin and induces lactation in ovariectomized, oestrogen-primed rabbits. These effects can also be produced by placing a discrete electrolytic lesion in the basal tuberal hypothalamus, and following such a lesion, reserpine exerts no further effects on pituitary prolactin or mammary gland activation. In contrast, when reserpine is administered to rabbits bearing lesions elsewhere in the hypothalamus, depletion of pituitary prolactin and lactation ensues. These results suggest that reserpine-induced prolactin depletion of the pituitary gland, with subsequent lactation, is mediated by a system within the basal tuberal hypothalamus.