The influence of GABA on pituitary gonadotrophin (GTH) release in the goldfish was studied by means of in vivo and in vitro techniques. It was found that GABA injected intraperitoneally caused an increase of serum GTH levels in regressed or early maturing fish, but not in late maturing animals. Moreover, injection of a GABA transaminase inhibitor caused a significant increase of GABA within the hypothalamus and pituitary, and a dose-dependent increase in serum GTH levels. To determine if this effect could be exerted directly at the level of the pituitary, dispersed pituitary cells in static incubation or in perifusion were exposed to increasing concentrations of GABA or its agonists muscimol and baclofen. None of these drugs was able to modify the spontaneous or GnRH-induced secretion of GTH, indicating that the in vivo effect of GABA was most likely mediated via another hypothalamic factor. Using in vitro incubation of pituitary slices, it was found that GABA caused a dose-related stimulation of GnRH release at the level of the pituitary, providing a possible explanation for the observed in vivo stimulatory effect of GABA on GTH release. Since the seasonal effect of GABA in vivo indicated a possible interaction of GABA with sexual steroids, GABA was given intraperitoneally to female goldfish implanted with either testosterone or estradiol. We found that the stimulatory effect of GABA on GTH release was abolished in estradiol-treated females but was still observed in testosterone-implanted fish. Moreover, estradiol but not testosterone caused a decrease of the GABA concentration within the telencephalon.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)