Bacterial lipopolysaccharide-induced coordinate downregulation of arginine vasopressin receptor V3 and corticotropin-releasing factor receptor 1 messenger ribonucleic acids in the anterior pituitary of endotoxemic steers

AVP and CRF are potent stimulators of pituitary ACTH secretion in cattle. Actions of AVP and CRF at the anterior pituitary are mediated by AVP receptor V3 (V3) and CRF receptor 1 (CRFR1). The primary objective of these studies was to determine the effect of systemic inflammatory stress on V3 and CRFR1 mRNAs in the bovine anterior pituitary. Holstein steers (n = 20) were injected with 200 ng/kg bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and tissues collected 0, 2, 4, 12, and 24 h later. All animals responded to LPS administration with an increase in body temperature, plasma ACTH, and cortisol (p < 0.05). Abundance of anterior pituitary V3 mRNA was decreased at 2, 4, and 12 h following LPS administration (p < 0.05) and returned to basal by 24 h. A similar temporal regulation of pituitary CRFR1 mRNA (p < 0.05), but not pituitary pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) mRNA, was observed following LPS administration. Similar downregulation of CRFR1 mRNA was not observed in other brain regions following LPS administration (cerebellum, hypothalamus). Our results indicate that V3 and CRFR1 mRNAs are coordinately downregulated in the anterior pituitary during systemic inflammatory stress. Decreased AVP and CRF receptor expression may help regulate the pituitary-adrenal response to stress.