This Article Full Text (PDF) Submit a related Letter to the Editor Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Copyright Permission Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by REIN, M. S. Articles by HEFFNER, L. J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by REIN, M. S. Articles by HEFFNER, L. J.

Decreased Prolactin Secretion by Explant Cultures of Fibroids from Women Treated with a Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Agonist^*

Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School Boston, Massachusetts

Address requests for reprints to: Dr. M. S. Rein, Department OB/GYN, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA, 02115.

Endometrium, myometrium and uterine leiomyomata (fibroids) all secrete PRL. Although the regulation of endometrial PRL secretion has been extensively studied, little is known about myometrial and fibroid PRL. This study investigated the effects of the GnRH agonist (GnRH-a) leuprolide acetate depot, administered in vivo, on fibroid and myometrial PRL secretion by explant cultures. Tissue was obtained from 17 patients enrolled in a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Explant cultures of fibroid and myometrium were established in defined serum free media and harvested media assayed for PRL and total protein. Fibroid PRL secretion was substantially greater than myometrial PRL secretion. Fibroid PRL secretion increased with time whereas myometrial PRL secretion did not. Fibroid, but not myometrial, PRL secretion in GnRH-a treated patients was significantly lower when compared to controls. Fibroid protein secretion was not affected by GnRH-a administration in vivo. Progesterone supplementation in vitro inhibited fibroid PRL secretion; estrogen and GnRH-a in vitro had a minimal effect. Western blot analysis showed a small proportion of PRL secreted by fibroids to be glycosylated. These results demonstrate: 1) PRL secretion is greater from fibroids than myometrium; 2) fibroid PRL secretion in vitro is specifically reduced after 24 h after in vivo treatment with GnRH-a; 3) estrogen or progesterone in vitro does not reverse the suppression by in vivo administration of GnRH-a; and 4) GnRH-a in vitro has no effect on fibroid PRL secretion.

^* This work was supported in part by Takeda-Abbott Research and Development and presented at the 36th Annual Meeting of the Society for Gynecologic Investigation (Abstract 331) San Diego, California, March 15–18, 1989.

Received October 2, 1989.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				C.D. Swartz, C.A. Afshari, L. Yu, K.E. Hall, and D. Dixon Estrogen-induced changes in IGF-I, Myb family and MAP kinase pathway genes in human uterine leiomyoma and normal uterine smooth muscle cell lines Mol. Hum. Reprod., June 1, 2005; 11(6): 441 - 450. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]