Cortisol and GH Responses to D- and L-Amphetamine in Monkeys

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Abstract
Equimolar doses of D-amphetamine and L-amphetamine, and a water placebo were injected i.v. on different days into rhesus monkeys, and their plasma cortisol and GH [growth hormone] responses were determined over a 3-h period. D- and L-amphetamine (but not the placebo) equally suppressed plasma cortisol concentration and equally increased plasma GH concentration. Pretrreatment of the monkeys with large doses of pimozide, a specific dopamine receptor blocker, did not appear to block the hormonal responses to either isomer of amphetamine. The hormonal responses to both D- and L-amphetamine were mediated by noradrenergic neurons stimulatory to GH and inhibitory to ACTH, and that D- and L-amphetamine exert equipotent noradrenergic effects in the neuroendocrine system.