We have previously shown that the somatostatin (SRIH) precursor (pro-SRIH) and SRIH are present in the normal human pituitary, whereas mature SRIH is never detected in GH-secreting adenomas associated with high plasma GH levels, and pro-SRIH is absent in 50% of them. Considering the fact that GHRH is present and released in vitro in higher amounts from GH adenomas than from normal human pituitaries, the possibility of a negative control exerted by GHRH on pituitary SRIH was investigated. When GH-secreting adenomas were incubated for 4 h in the presence of GHRH (10(-8) mol/L), the amount of pro-SRIH, quantified after Sephadex G-50 filtration of the acetic acid extracts, was significantly decreased. The percent inhibition was negatively correlated to the amount of endogenously released GHRH measured in the control incubation medium, suggesting a local negative feedback control exerted by pituitary GHRH on pituitary SRIH. This was further demonstrated when adenomas were incubated with a GHRH antibody. Indeed, the presence of the GHRH antibody resulted in a significant increase in the content of pro-SRIH in the adenoma. Similar results were obtained for in vitro SRIH release; exogenous GHRH induced an inhibition of SRIH release from GH-secreting adenomas, and the GHRH antibody had the opposite effect. Using a perifusion system, we showed the concomitance between the increase in GH release and the decrease in SRIH release after GHRH stimulation. Together, these results show in vitro a negative control exerted by GHRH (both exogenous and locally released) on adenomatous pituitary SRIH. This further amplifies the importance of autocrine or paracrine controls in these tumors.