The concentration of thyroid hormone nuclear receptors varies from one tissue to another, the anterior pituitary (AP) gland possessing the highest. Since 3,5,3',1-triiodothyronine (T3) controls within a narrow range the secretion of TSH from the pituitary gland, this study was carried out to establish whether T3 modulates its own pituitary nuclear receptors and if so, whether this modulation is correlated with the thyroidal status and TSH secretion. Salt-solubilized T3 nuclear receptors were measured in the AP gland of thyroidectomized and intact adult male rats as well as in thyroidectomized rats treated with T3. In intact male rats the maximum binding capacity of pituitary T3 nuclear receptors (MBC-T3nR), determined by Scatchard analysis, was 578 +/- 45 fmoles T3/mg protein or 27 +/- 3 fmoles T3/AP (mean +/- SEM, n = 19). 2 weeks after thyroidectomy there was a marked decrease in serum T3 and T4 concentrations as well as in the MBC-T3nR (231 +/- 26 fmoles T3/mg protein or 9.3 +/- 1.2 fmoles T3/AP, n = 7) which was still observed 8 and 16 weeks after thyroidectomy. The affinity constant (Ka) of T3 for its pituitary nuclear receptors was significantly greater in thyroidectomized rats than in intact rats (3.61 +/- 0.70 vs. 1.09 +/- 0.15 X 10(10) M-1, P less than 0.001). To test whether treatment with T3 would restore a normal MBC-T3nR, 2-week thyroidectomized rats were injected with T3(0.5 micrograms/100 g b.w.) and killed 10 min, 1, 3, 15 or 24 h after T3 injection. 10 min after T3 injection MBC-T3nR was not altered but it returned to normal values 1 h after injection (441 +/- 97 fmoles T3/mg protein) and was maintained so for at least 3 h. 15 h after T3 injection MBC-T3nR was again decreased in spite of serum T3 levels that were twice as high as in normal rats. In contrast, when T3 was injected at the dose of 1.0 micrograms/100 g b.w. the MBC-T3nR was maintained within the normal range as long as 24 h after the injection (428 +/- 125 fmoles T3/mg protein) with serum T3 concentrations that were twice the normal levels (1.27 +/- 0.06 vs. 0.67 +/- 0.01 ng/ml). These results support the hypothesis that T3 modulates the concentration of its own nuclear receptors in the rat pituitary gland. The absence of any effect of T3 10 min after injection is suggestive of an effect of T3 on the synthesis of its receptors rather than on an alteration of unoccupied receptors that would require T3 for adequate configuration and detection. This modulation of pituitary T3 receptors by T3 may provide an additional mechanism of regulation of TSH secretion in thyroid insufficiency.