Metabolic Effects of Two Peptides from the Anterior Pituitary Gland

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Abstract
Two substances, peptides I and II, isolated from a crude extract obtained from the anterior pituitary glands of hogs, had a potent effect on lipid metabolism in rabbits; as little as .02 μg added to leporine adipose tissue in vitro stimulated the release of free fatty acids. Following the injection of 10 μg intravenously, the concentration of free fatty acids in plasma increased threefold within 5 minutes, while 2.5 mg subcutaneously resulted in gross lipemia from 12 to 16 hours later. Their effect in man was slight; from 5 to 25 mg produced only a small increase in free fatty acids in one hour. Similarly, an impure preparation of peptides I and II from human pituitaries failed to produce a clear change in free fatty acids in man. Starch gel electrophoresis of the crude pituitary extract as well as of peptides I and II was performed, and by this method the major component of “Fraction H” prepared by Rudman was identical with peptide II.