The effects of acute estradiol (E2) treatment on both t h e activity of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) in t h e median eminence and t h e serum level of prolactin (PRL) were investigated. Twelve-day-ovariectornized rats were injected with li'P-E, (25 pg sc) a t 1100 h and sacrificed hourly from 1200 to 2300 h. TH activity was quantified by measuring the amount of exogenous tyrosine converted to L-DOPA in vitro by aliquots of median eminence homogenates. Serum PRL levels were evaluated by radioimmunoassay. A biphasic response of TH activity to treatment was observed: an immediate decrease occurred-preceding and accompanying a rise in serum PRL-followed by an increase beyond control levels 2 h after the maximal release of PRL. The increase in TH activity could be prevented by the pretreatment of rats with a specific rat PRL antiserum, suggesting it was not due to E, per se but rather mediated by the E,-induced PRL elevation. To pin-point the process underlying the E,-induced decrease in TH activity, we evaluated the kinetic parameters of TH in t h e median eminence as well as its quantity (by Western blot analysis) in t h e median eminence and arcuate nucleus. Finally, we used a sensitive dot-blot assay to quantify specific TH messenger ribonucleic acid in the arcuate nucleus. The decrease in TH activity after E, treatment paralleled an immediate decrease in t h e affinity of TH for its pterin cofactor (6-MPH4), while V , , , remained unchanged. A decrease in the amount of TH protein in the arcuate nucleus and median eminence as well as in the TH messenger ribonucleic acid level in the arcuate nucleus was also observed, but the latency of these effects precluded a major involvement in the immediate decline of TH activity. Therefore, when observed separately from those of PRL, E, effects on TH in tuberoinfundibular dopaminergic neurons are clearly inhibitory consisting of a 'deactivation' of the enzyme together with a reduction of its synthesis. Tuberoinfundibular dopaminergic (TIDA) neurons with cell bodies in the arcuate nucleus (AN) and nerve terminals in the median eminence (ME) exert a tonic inhibitory influence on pituitary prolactin (PRL) secretion. It is known that these cells are estradiol (E2) targets (I), however the nature and mechanism(s) of the steroid actions on TIDA neurons are still controversial: long-term ( 2 to 3 weeks) treatment with E2 is invariably reported to result in a decrease in the concentration and synthesis of dopamine (DA) in the M E (2-7). In contrast, 'intermediateterm' (3 to 5 days) treatment has been reported to increase the activity of TIDA neurons, as revealed by an increase in the rate of synthesis (8) and turnover (9-12) of DA in the M E and a rise in its concentration in hypophysial portal blood (1 3). However, the activation of TIDA neurons seems not to be due to a direct action of the steroid per se but rather to be mediated by PRL whose secretion is increased by E2 (8, 10). On the other hand, recent studies (14) showed that 3 days of estrogen treatment had no effect in...