Comparison of pharmacological effect of adiphenine and physiological stimulation by luteinizing hormone releasing hormone on luteinizing hormone release by rat anterior pituitaries in vitro

The mechanism of action of adiphenine on in vitro rat anterior pituitary LH release was studied and compared with that of the physiological stimulator luteinizing hormone releasing hormone (LH-RH) on LH release. The comparative study showed that adiphenine and LH-RH were able to increase medium LH concentration in a dose-dependent manner and had similar time courses of action between 1 and 4 h incubation. However, there were several main differences between the effects of adiphenine and LH-RH. The adiphenine action was not calcium dependent, was inhibited in a high K+ medium concentration, and was substituted after energy depression. It is concluded that adiphenine probably acts near the ultimate steps of the LH release pathway and could be a useful pharmacological tool for studying the mechanism of LH release.