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Target Concepts:
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Query: UMLS:C0848255 (
female puberty
)
121
document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)
The present experiments were undertaken to throw light on the physiological role played by
alpha-MSH
in the advent of
female puberty
. The serum and pituitary
alpha-MSH
concentrations were determined in prepubertal rats 5, 15, 25, 30, 33 days old and at vaginal opening. The serum levels showed a significant increase on day 30 and the pituitary
alpha-MSH
levels increased steadily from day 5 to day 33. To determine if a relation exists between the increase in
alpha-MSH
levels and the peak of LH prior to vaginal opening, prepubertal rats of the same age range as above received an injection of
alpha-MSH
or saline solution and were sacrificed 30 min later. The peptide increased LH serum levels only at 30 days of age. To examine the hypothesis that
alpha-MSH
was involved in determining the timing of puberty, prepubertal rats pretreated with estradiol benzoate received an injection of
alpha-MSH
or saline solution on day 28. This treatment advanced the time of vaginal opening by 2 days in the experimental animals. With the same experimental procedure, an increase in serum levels of LH and progesterone was also observed at 29 days of age. The action of
alpha-MSH
on GnRH was analysed by incubating median eminence from prepubertal rats 20, 25 and 30 days of age, with the peptide,
alpha-MSH
increased GnRH release only in 25-day-old rats. The above results show that acute treatment with
alpha-MSH
induces modifications in the hormones related to puberty and hence allows us to include
alpha-MSH
in the chain of neuroendocrine events involved in reproductive maturation.
...
PMID:Acute administration of alpha-melanotropin exerts a stimulatory control on puberty. 254 77
