title: A hypothalamic-testicular neural pathway is influenced by brain catecholamines, but not testicular blood flow.
abstract: We previously reported the existence of a descending multisynaptic, pituitary-independent, neural pathway between the hypothalamus and the testes in the male rat. Stimulation of this pathway by the intracerebroventricular (icv) injection of IL-1beta or corticotropin-releasing factor blunts the testosterone (T) response to human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). This response is mediated at least in part by catecholamine beta-adrenergic receptor activation. The present work was performed to further investigate the role of brain catecholamines and testicular blood flow in this pathway. The icv injection of 5 microl of 200 proof ethanol (EtOH; 86 micromol) did not result in detectable levels of the drug in the general circulation and did not induce neuronal damage, but rapidly blunted hCG-induced T release while not decreasing LH levels or altering testicular blood flow. EtOH significantly up-regulated transcripts of the immediate-early gene c-fos in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of the hypothalamus. Lesions of the PVN blocked the inhibitory effect of IL-1beta on T, but only partially interfered with the influence of EtOH. PVN catecholamine turnover significantly increased after icv injection of IL-1beta, but not EtOH. Brain catecholamine depletion due to the neurotoxin 6-hydroxydopamine did not alter the ability of hCG to induce T release, but significantly reversed the inhibitory effect of icv EtOH or IL-1beta on this response. Collectively, these results indicate that icv-injected IL-1beta or EtOH blunts hCG-induced T secretion through a catecholamine-mediated mechanism that does not depend on either peripherally mediated effects or pituitary LH, and that the PVN plays a role in these effects.
authors.affiliation: Clayton Foundation Laboratories for Peptide Biology, The Salk Institute, La Jolla, California 92037, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Selvage
authors.forename: Soon Y
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Loren H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Parsons
authors.forename: Dong O
authors.initials: DO
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.forename: Catherine L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Rivier
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015306:Biogenic Monoamines / Q000378:metabolism; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D002395:Catecholamines / Q000378:metabolism*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D000431:Ethanol / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000097:blood; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D007276:Injections, Intraventricular; D007375:Interleukin-1 / Q000008:administration & dosage; D007986:Luteinizing Hormone / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D016627:Oxidopamine / Q000494:pharmacology; D010286:Paraventricular Hypothalamic Nucleus / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012039:Regional Blood Flow / Q000502:physiology; D013737:Testis / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000294:innervation*; D013739:Testosterone / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors
chemical_list: D015306:Biogenic Monoamines; D002395:Catecholamines; D007375:Interleukin-1; D000431:Ethanol; D013739:Testosterone; D016627:Oxidopamine; D007986:Luteinizing Hormone