Synthetic peptide with inhibin-like activity preferentially inhibits follitropin secretion in comparison with lutropin-releasing hormone antagonists

Abstract

Biological activity of a synthetic peptide with inhibin-like activity under in vitro and in vivo conditions was compared with three highly potent synthetic lutropin-releasing hormone antagonists. Unlike the synthetic lutropin-releasing hormone antagonists, which effectively inhibited both lutropin and follitropin secretion from the pituitary, the inhibin-like peptide showed a preferential effect by inhibiting follitropin release both in vitro and in vivo. Thus, small peptides such as inhibin-like peptide with a sequence unrelated to lutropin-releasing hormone may provide a basis for design of selective inhibitors of gonadotropin release.