In aging, alterations of pituitary GH-releasing hormone (GHRH) receptor (GHRH-R)-binding sites have been proposed as one of the initiating factors contributing to the loss of somatotroph responsiveness to GHRH. Changes in the characteristics and/or concentration of the functional GHRH-R could take place in the course of aging and reduce the sensitivity of the somatotroph axis to GHRH. Because chronic exposure to GHRH has been proposed to resensitize aged somatotroph cells, better knowledge of its effects on the regulation of the somatotroph axis is required, particularly at the level of GHRH-R. Two- and 18-month-old male Sprague Dawley rats were treated for 14 days with a daily s.c. injection of 0.5 or 1.0 mg/kg BW human GHRH-(1-29)NH2 or saline. In 2-month-old rats, treatment with 0.5 mg/kg GHRH increased the number of high affinity pituitary GHRH-R-binding sites by 2-fold (P < 0.05) and hypothalamic somatostatin (SRIF) content by 45% (P < 0.05). It did not affect hypothalamic GHRH content, serum total insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I), or body weight gain. Treatment with 1.0 mg/kg GHRH decreased the number of high affinity pituitary GHRH-R-binding sites by 2.4-fold compared with that in rats treated with 0.5 mg/kg BW (P < 0.05) and increased hypothalamic SRIF content by 45% (P < 0.05), but did not affect GHRH content. It also decreased circulating levels of IGF-I by 13% (P < 0.05) and slowed the growth rate by 17% (P < 0.05). In 18-month-old rats, treatment with 0.5 mg/kg GHRH for 14 days was not sufficient to rejuvenate pituitary GHRH binding parameters. However, treatment with 1.0 mg/kg GHRH restored the affinities of high and low affinity classes of GHRH-binding sites to values similar to those found in 2-month-old rats. Binding capacities of the high and low affinity classes of sites were increased by 1.8- and 3-fold, respectively, although significance was only reached for the low affinity site (P < 0.05). These changes were associated with a normalization of the level of 2.5-kb GHRH-R messenger RNA transcript, which was decreased by 31% in aging rats (P < 0.05), and by a trend for an increase in the 4-kb GHRH-R messenger RNA transcript, which was already increased by 49% in 18-month-old rats (P < 0.05). A normalization of serum IGF-I levels, which were decreased by 11% in 18-month-old control rats (P < 0.01), was also observed. No treatment effect was detected on body weight or hypothalamic SRIF and GHRH contents. We conclude that a 14-day administration of GHRH induces a differential GHRH-R-mediated regulation at the level of the pituitary and probably the hypothalamus as a function of age.

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