Metabolic Sensitivity of Different Hypothalamic Areas to Luteinizing Hormone (LH), Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH), and Testosterone

In the present paper, the effect of administration of FSH, LH, and testosterone on the oxidative metabolism of the anterior, middle, and posterior hypothalamus of hypophysectomized-castrated rats was studied. FSH produced a significant depression of the oxidative activity in the posterior hypothalamus without modifications in the other hypothalamic areas. On the other hand, LH depressed the metabolic activity only in the anterior hypothalamus. Testosterone produced an effect similar to that of LH, i.e., a decrease in the oxygen uptake of the anterior hypothalamus without modifications in the respiration of the middle and posterior hypothalamus. The relationship between these findings and the short feed-back mechanism controlling FSH and LH secretion is discussed.