This review focuses on the central regulation of thermoregulatory responses with special attention to the participation of thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) in both autonomous and endocrine responses to a cold environment. Besides a direct projection of TRH neurons from paraventricular nuclei (PVN) to the median eminence, and the subsequent activation of the thyroid axis, there are direct projections from the PVN to the autonomic preganglionic neurons controlling autonomous responses. These projections convey information to peripheral targets involved in thermogenesis through the dorsal vagal complex and the spinal cord, for parasympathetic and sympathetic neurotransmissions respectively. Furthermore, cold exposure increases TRH mRNA levels in the PVN but also in dorsal motor and caudal raphe nuclei, thus providing strong evidence for a functional link between autonomous and neuroendocrine systems involved in thermoregulation.

IR-TRH release in the median eminence was directly estimated in conscious rats during the first 130 min of exposure to cold (4 °C), using a push-pull cannulation. A three-fold increase in IR-TRH release was observed, with a peak of 10.00 ± 2.19 pg/15 min occurring 40 min after exposure to cold; control rats, left at 24 °C, stayed at the baseline secretion rate of 3.40 pg/15 min which was the sensitivity limit of the RIA assay.

The action of excitatory amino acid agonists on endogenous somatostatin release was examined in primary cultures of rat diencephalic neurons. Increasing concentrations of glutamate stimulated somatostatin release in a dose-dependent manner. Since this effect was decreased by Mg2+, all experiments were performed in Mg2+-free media. We found that excitatory amino acid agonists evoked somatostatin release in the following order of potency: quisqualate greater than glutamate = N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) greater than kainate, as calculated from the dose-response curves. The increase in somatostatin release elicited by glutamate or NMDA was selectively antagonized by DL-2-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid and by thyenyl-phencyclidine, two specific antagonists of NMDA receptors. The NMDA effect was strongly inhibited: in a competitive manner by APV and in a noncompetitive manner by TCP with IC50 of 90 microM and 0.2 microM, respectively. Glutamate-induced somatostatin release was not blocked by tetrodotoxin (1 microM) suggesting that tetrodotoxin-sensitive sodium-dependent action potentials are not involved in this effect. Our data suggest the presence of functionally active excitatory amino acid receptors in somatostatinergic neurons. Glutamate seems to exert its stimulatory action on somatostatin release essentially through NMDA type receptor sites.

Rat thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) prohormone contains five copies of the TRH progenitor sequence Gln-His-Pro-Gly linked together by connecting sequences whose biological activity is unknown. Both the predicted connecting peptide prepro-TRH-(160-169) (Ps4) and TRH are predominant storage forms of TRH precursor-related peptides in the hypothalamus. To determine whether Ps4 is co-released with TRH, rat median eminence slices were perifused in vitro. Infusion of depolarizing concentrations of KCI induced stimulation of release of Ps4-and TRH-like immunoreactivity. The possible effect of Ps4 on thyrotropin release was investigated in vitro using quartered anterior pituitaries. Infusion of Ps4 alone had no effect on thyrotropin secretion but potentiated TRH-induced thyrotropin release in a dosedependent manner. In addition, the occurrence of specific binding sites for '251-labeled Tyr-Ps4 in the distal lobe of the pituitary was demonstrated by binding analysis and autoradiographic localization. These findings indicate that these two peptides that arise from a single multifunctional precursor, the TRH prohormone, act in a coordinate manner on the same target cells to promote hormonal secretion. These data suggest that differential processing of the TRH prohormone may have the potential to modulate the biological activity of TRH.