Intracerebroventricular infusion of leptin into mature merino rams of different metabolic status: Effects on blood concentrations of glucose and reproductive and metabolic hormones

Abstract

In mature Merino rams, nutrition is one of the external cues that most strongly affects the reproductive centres of the preoptic-hypothalamic continuum. The signalling pathways that link dietary status and the activity of the neurones that produce gonadotrophin-releasing hormone signals are thought to be partly hormonal in nature to reflect the amount of body reserves. Among the hormones thought to be involved are insulin and leptin. This study tested whether recombinant bovine leptin infused (0.4 microg/h) into the third cerebral ventricle would stimulate pulsatile luteinizing hormone (LH) secretion in mature Merino rams when their energy status was low or decreasing, during both chronic (f..