title: Dopamine acts on acetylation of proopiomelanocortin-derived products in dog pituitary.
abstract: The effect of chronic dopaminergic receptor blockade using domperidone (DOM) on the immature dog pituitary content of POMC-related peptides was evaluated. Six immature dogs were treated with DOM for 15 days, 3 times/day, po (3 mg/kg) together with DOM sc (0.6 mg/kg) at 21.00 h. Placebo was administered to six control animals with the same protocol. On the 16th day, the animals were killed, the whole pituitary removed, homogenized, and submitted to reverse-phase HPLC purification prior to radioimmunoassay (RIA) evaluation of beta-endorphin, ACTH and alpha-MSH immunoreactivities (ir). DOM-treated dogs showed a pituitary concentration of beta-EP and ACTH similar to the placebo-treated dogs. The total alpha-MSH ir was similar in both groups and distributed on two main peaks: one corresponding to alpha-MSH and another coeluting with des-acetyl-alpha-MSH [1-13(ACTH)NH2]. However, the percentage of alpha-MSH on total ir in DOM-treated dogs (15.4 +/- 2.6%) was lower than in controls (37.5 +/- 4.5%, P less than 0.01); the corresponding percentage of 1-13(ACTH)NH2 content was 63.0 +/- 3.8% vs 44.7 +/- 3.7%, (P less than 0.01). The alpha-MSH/1-13(ACTH)NH2 ratio was considerably decreased by the treatment (0.25 +/- 0.06 vs 0.89 + 0.15, P less than 0.01). Acetyl beta-EP-like ir was also lower in treated (38.4 + 5.4 fmol/mg) vs control (86.6 + 19.2 fmol/mg, P less than 0.05) animals. These data indicate that the dopaminergic system plays an important role in the control of acetylation processes of POMC-related peptides in the pituitary.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, School of Medicine, University of Modena, Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Facchinetti
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Perez-Fernandez
authors.forename: M O
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Toma
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Gaudiero
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Lechuga
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Devesa
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Genazzani
mesh_terms: D000107:Acetylation; D000818:Animals; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D004285:Dogs; D004294:Domperidone / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000378:metabolism; D010902:Pituitary Gland / Q000378:metabolism*; D011333:Pro-Opiomelanocortin / Q000378:metabolism*; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D011954:Receptors, Dopamine / Q000187:drug effects*; D012741:Sexual Maturation; D000521:alpha-MSH / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000378:metabolism; D001615:beta-Endorphin / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D010446:Peptide Fragments; D011954:Receptors, Dopamine; D004294:Domperidone; D000521:alpha-MSH; D001615:beta-Endorphin; D011333:Pro-Opiomelanocortin