Abstract

Growth hormone (GH) secretory patterns regulate the expression of several sex-dependent liver cytochrome P450 (CYP) genes. Studies using the hypophysectomized rat model have established that the intermittent plasma GH secretory pattern associated with adult male rats markedly stimulates liver expression of the male-specific CYP 2C11, a testosterone 2 alpha- and 16 alpha-hydroxylase, but is not required for expression of other male-specific liver enzymes, including CYP 2A2, a testosterone 15 alpha-hydroxylase, and CYP 3A2, a testosterone 6 beta-hydroxylase. In the present study, the effects of intermittent GH treatment on liver CYP expression were studied in adult rats rendered GH deficient by neonatal administration of monosodium glutamate (MSG), which depletes circulating adult GH without the global loss of other pituitary-dependent hormones that is associated with hypophysectomy. Restoration of the normal masculine circulating GH profile of six daily pulses (180-225 ng GH/ml/peak) in MSG-treated male rats by the use of an external pumping apparatus led to a substantial (30-50%) restoration of normal male levels of CYP 2A2 and CYP 3A2 activity, protein, and mRNA. GH pulsation at the nonphysiological frequencies of two or four times per day was less effective unless given at a dose that resulted in supraphysiological plasma GH levels. Although intermittent GH treatment can induce male-specific P450 expression in hypophysectomized female rats, the same hormone treatment did not stimulate CYP 2A2 or CYP 3A2 expression in MSG-treated female rats. Liver GH receptor mRNA levels at adulthood were not significantly altered by neonatal MSG treatment, suggesting that the unresponsiveness of MSG-treated females and the previously reported low responsiveness of MSG-treated males to GH-induced CYP 2C11 expression are not due to the absence of GH receptor. Moreover, normal liver IGF-1 mRNA levels were expressed in the MSG-treated female rats, suggesting that the liver GH receptor is functional in these animals. The present findings establish that the adult male-specific enzymes CYP 2A2 and CYP 3A2 can be positively regulated by intermittent GH pulsation despite their GH-independent expression in hypophysectomized rats. Moreover, neonatal MSG treatment, particularly in female rats, may lead to the loss of factors other than GH that are required for full expression of the pulsatile GH-stimulated CYP 2A2, 3A2, and 2C11 genes.