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Blockade of episodic gonadotrophin secretion by Immobilon in ovariectomized ewes

Most studies on the effect of CNS depressants on pituitary gonadotrophin secretion have been of the rat. Everett & Sawyer (1950) showed that administration of barbiturates at a critical time in the oestrous cycle could block the ovulatory surge of LH, and other CNS depressants such as morphine, reserpine and chlorpromazine have since been shown to have a similar effect (Barraclough & Sawyer, 1955; Barraclough, 1955, 1956). The effects of these treatments can be reversed by electrical stimulation of the hypothalamus (Hagino, 1969) or by administration of LH-RH (Duncan & Daniels, 1967). It is therefore assumed that the drugs affect the pituitary release of gonadotrophins by depressing the activity of the hypothalamus. These findings in the rat appear to apply to other species; in man, for example, heroin addiction is associated with amenorrhoea and menstrual dysfunction (Menninger-Lerchenthal, 1934; Pescor, 1938) and abnormal gonadotrophin secretion (Santen, Sofsky, Bilic & Lippert, 1975). Robertson & Rakha (1965) showed that ovulation in the ewe could be delayed by an injection of chlorpromazine.