Melanin concentrating hormone inhibits the release of alpha MSH from teleost pituitary glands.

A radioimmunoassay was developed for salmonid melanin concentrating hormone (MCH) and used to measure immunoreactive (ir)MCH in the hypothalamus and pituitary of trout (Salmo gairdneri) and eels, (Anguilla anguilla) maintained under different regimes of background color. In trout, 95% of the total irMCH was located in the pituitary gland. The amount of MCH in both pituitary and hypothalamus was increased when white-adapted trout were transferred to a black background. In eels, a similar change of background led to an accumulation of MCH in the pituitary but not in the hypothalamus. The results suggest that MCH is released from the neurohypophysis in association with physiological color change. Neurointermediate lobes of trout and eels released both ir alpha MSH and irMCH when they were cultured in vitro. The release of alpha MSH was significantly enhanced when endogenous MCH was immunoabsorbed by MCH antiserum added to the culture medium. The results indicate that MCH can induce pallor in fish not only by its peripheral effect on the melanophores but also by an inhibitory action on the release of alpha MSH from the pituitary.