UC San Diego

Stress suppresses pulsatile luteinising hormone (LH) secretion in a variety of species, although the mechanism underlying this inhibition of reproductive function remains unclear. Metabolic stress, particularly hypoglycaemia, is a clinically-relevant stress type that is modelled with bolus insulin injection (insulin-induced hypoglycaemia). The present study utilised ovariectomised C57BL/6 mice to test the hypothesis that acute hypoglycaemia suppresses pulsatile LH secretion via central mechanisms. Pulsatile LH secretion was measured in 90-minute sampling periods immediately prior to and following i.p. injection of saline or insulin. The secretion of LH was not altered over time in fed animals or acutely fasted (5 hours) animals following an i.p. saline injection. By contrast, insulin elicited a robust suppression of pulsatile LH secretion in fasted animals, preventing LH pulses in five of six mice. To identify the neuroendocrine site of impairment, a kisspeptin challenge was performed in saline or insulin pre-treated animals in a cross-over design. LH secretion in response to exogenous kisspeptin was not different between animals pre-treated with saline or insulin, indicating normal gonadotrophin-releasing hormone cell and pituitary responses during acute hypoglycaemia. Based on this finding, the effect of insulin-induced hypoglycaemia on arcuate kisspeptin (Kiss1) cell function was determined using c-Fos as a marker of neuronal activation. Insulin caused a significant suppression in the percentage of Kiss1 cells in the arcuate nucleus that contained c-Fos compared to saline-injected controls. Taken together, these data support the hypothesis that insulin-induced hypoglycaemia suppresses pulsatile LH secretion in the female mouse via predominantly central mechanisms, which culminates in the suppression of the arcuate Kiss1 population.