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Growth Hormone Secretagogue Receptor Expression in Human Pituitary Tumors¹

Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Medicine (M.M.S., R.N., M.O.T.), Department of Pathology (B.L.), and Department of Neurosurgery (E.R.L.), University of Virginia Health Sciences Center, Charlottesville, Virginia 22908

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Dr. Michael O. Thorner, Department of Medicine, University of Virginia Health Sciences, Box 466, Charlottesville, Virginia 22908. E-mail: mot{at}virginia.edu

The GH secretagogue (GHS) receptor (GHS-R) has been characterized and cloned. It is a member of a family of seven transmembrane receptors and is closely related to the neurotensin and TRH receptors. To determine the expression of this receptor in normal anterior pituitary and in 24 human pituitary adenomas, we analyzed GHS-R messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) using a RT-PCR assay. We found that normal human pituitary was positive for the GHS-R signal. In addition, all GH-secreting adenomas and the one TSH-secreting adenoma demonstrated the presence of GHS-R mRNA. Three of four ACTH-secreting tumors and three of nine gonadotroph adenomas were also positive for the GHS-R mRNA. To determine the amounts of GHS-R mRNA in normal pituitary and in representative tumors, semiquantitative competitive PCR was performed. We determined that normal pituitary had approximately 750 molecules/L GHS-R mRNA. The acromegalic tumor had approximately 1.5 x 10⁵ molecules/L, and the TSH-secreting tumor had approximately 7.5 x 10³ molecules/L. Other tumor types contained considerably less, with the ACTH-secreting and gonadotroph tumors expressing 7.5 x 10² and 3 x 10² GHS-R mRNA molecules/L, respectively. These results suggest that GH- and TSH-producing adenomas express GHS-R mRNA at levels 200 and 10 times higher, respectively, than the normal pituitary, and that this receptor expression may be involved in the pathogenesis and growth of these pituitary adenomas.

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