KALLIDIN-INDUCED STIMULATION OF INOSITOL PHOSPHATE PRODUCTION AND PROLACTIN-RELEASE IN RAT ANTERIOR-PITUITARY-CELLS

The effect of the kinin, kallidin (lysyl-brady-kinin) on phosphoinositide metabolism and prolactin secretion was examined in male rat anterior pituitary cells in primary culture. Kallidin was found to stimulate both total inositol phosphate production and prolactin release. The stimulation of inositol phosphate was biphasic in nature, similar to that previously reported for bradykinin, although kallidin was approximately 10-fold more potent. Kallidin also stimulated prolactin secretion provoking a maximal stimulation of 193.0 ± 11.1 (SEM)% at 1 μmol/l. These findings suggest that kallidin-induced prolactin secretion may be mediated intracellularly by activation of phosphoinositide metabolism. The B2 receptor antagonists had no significant inhibitory effects on kallidin-stimulated phosphoinositide metabolism or prolactin release. The B1 agonist des-Arg9-bradykinin has previously been shown to have no effect on either parameter. As the effects of kinins on anterior pituitary cells do not appear to be mediated by either of the known kinin receptors, they may, therefore, act via a hitherto unrecognised kinin receptor.