The regulation of TSH biological activity by thyroid hormone and TRH was studied by comparison of pituitary and in vitro secreted TSH from normal and thyroidectomized rats that were alternatively treated with TRH either in vivo or in vitro. Normal and thyroidectomized (3 weeks postthyroidectomy), rats were injected with saline or TRH (100 μg) three times over 24 h. Pituitaries were incubated in vitro for 6 h, and six groups of samples from both pituitary and secreted TSH were analyzed: normal (n = 6), thyroidectomized (n = 6), normal and thyroidectomized groups treated with TRH in vitro (n = 2 each) with 10^‒8m TRH added to the incubation medium, and normal and thyroidectomized groups TRH treated in vivo, their incubation medium also supplemented with 10⁻⁸ M TRH (n = 4 each). The biological activity of TSH in pituitary extracts and media was analyzed in terms of the ability to stimulate adenylate cyclase in human thyroid membranes. Thyroidectomy significantly decreased pituitary TSH bioactivity (70%) compared to normal, with no effect on secreted TSH in the medium. TRH, both in vivo and in vitro, when compared to the corresponding untreated groups, produced a significant increase in bioactive TSH in media from both normal (TRH in vivo, 131%; TRH in vitro, 139%) and thyroidectomized samples after TRH in vivo (158%). The TRH effect in the pituitary showed a significant increase in TSH bioactivity from normal samples treated with TRH in vivo (137%), whereas in thyroidectomized pituitary samples with TRH in vitro, TSH bioactivity was decreased (69%). These results indicate that thyroid hormone deficiency and TRH differentially regulate TSH bioactivity. Thyroid hormone deficiency induced a decrease in pituitary TSH bioactivity and favored the effect of TRH on secretion of more bioactive forms. TRH not only induced the formation of more bioactive forms but also stimulated their secretion into the medium. (Endocrinology 118: 2125-2130,1986)