DELAY OF PUBERTY AND IMPAIRMENT OF GROWTH IN FEMALE RATS GIVEN A NONCOMPETITIVE ANTAGONIST OF NMDA RECEPTORS

Reportedly, excitatory amino acids are involved in the control of gonadotropin secretion of rats and non-human primates. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of chronic blockade of NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartic acid) receptors by the non competitive receptor antagonist MK-801 on gonadotropin secretion and the onset of puberty in female rats. Moreover, since in humans alterations of the timing of puberty frequently coexist with disturbances of body growth, suggesting a common etiology for both events, we evaluated the effect of MK-801 also on the neural mechanisms controlling growth hormone (GH) secretion. Twenty-one-day-old female rats were treated with MK-801 (0.2 mg/kg ip, bid) or placebo for 10 days and were killed after 7 days of withdrawal. Administration of MK-801 induced a significant impairment of growth rate without altering food intake, and a delay in vaginal opening. Pituitaries from rats treated with MK-801 had a reduced luteinizing hormone (LH) content, and secreted in vitro lower amounts of LH both under basal and LHRH-stimulated conditions. MK-801 treated rats had a lower pituitary GH content and basal and GHRH-stimulated GH release and reduced plasma insulin-like growth factor-I levels. These data indicate that blockade of NMDA receptors in a critical period of the female rat life-span: 1) delays puberty by reducing gonadotropin secretion; 2) impairs growth rate by reducing GH secretion, with a mechanism still to be clarified. © 1990.