Reducing Kiss1 in the hypothalamus lowers hormone pulses controlling reproduction in male mice

Inducible conditional Kiss1 knockdown in male mice resulted in a profound decrease in both the number of Kiss1-expressing cells and luteinizing hormone (LH) pulse frequency at 4 weeks.

• Kisspeptin-GPR54 signaling is crucial for the secretion of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) and reproductive functions in mammals.
• Conventional Kiss1 knockout mice are infertile, but the effects of inducible central Kiss1 knockdown on gonadotropin release had not been previously studied.
• After AAV-Cre injection, a significant reduction in ARC Kiss1-expressing cells and LH pulse frequency was observed at 4 weeks.
• Despite suppressed ARC Kiss1 expression, pulsatile LH secretion was still detected 8 weeks post-injection.
• Control mice showed normal LH pulses and Kiss1 expression in the ARC at both 4 and 8 weeks after AAV-GFP injection.
• These findings suggest that ARC kisspeptin neurons contribute to LH secretion and indicate a potential compensatory mechanism for GnRH/LH pulse generation.

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