P. Falaschi, R. D’Urso, L. Negri
Aug 1, 1982
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Endocrinology
Abstract
The effect of sauvagine (SAU), a frog skin peptide, on prolactin (PRL) levels was studied in vivo and in vitro. Subcutaneous administration of SAU (20 micrograms/kg) reduced plasma PRL levels in normal adult male rats and suppressed the suckling-induced rise of PRL in lactating rats even at doses of 1 and 5 micrograms/kg. Perfusion of isolated and dispersed rat pituitary cells in vitro with increasing doses of SAU (from 5 x 10(-10) to 1.7 x 10(-8)M) induced a significant dose-related decrease of PRL secretion in the eluate. These results indicate that SAU is a potent PRL inhibiting factor and that its action is exerted at the pituitary level. If SAU or a SAU-related peptide is present in the mammalian brain, it can be tentatively hypothesized that this peptide plays an important role in the control of PRL secretion.