Effects of estrogen and tamoxifen on the ultrastructural characteristics of female rat prolactin cells as evaluated by immunogold technique.
Erensoy N, Cagatay P, Yilmazer S.
Department of Medical Biology, Cerrahpasa Faculty of Medicine, University of Istanbul, Turkey.
[email protected]
Estrogens and antiestrogens are known to have effects on prolactin (PRL)-producing cells in the anterior pituitary. This study was planned to investigate the effects of estrogen and tamoxifen at immunohistochemical and immunoelectron microscopic levels on PRL cells of female rat pituitary. Animals were divided into three groups of eight adult female rats each. The first group was the control group. 200-microg/day of estrogen was administered subcutaneously for 11 weeks to 16 rats. Tamoxifen was administered to eight of them for the last 15 days. In diethylstilbestrol (DES)-induced group, serum PRL levels and pituitary weights were found to be elevated when compared with the control group. In the DES plus tamoxifen group the readings were close to that of the control group. PRL-positive cells were enlarged and strongly immunostained in DES-induced group when assessed by light microscopy. Tamoxifen prevented this effect. At the ultrastructural level, in the tamoxifen treated group, PRL-producing cells contained both immunopositive and immunonegative secretory granules. Numerous PRL-producing cells exhibited progressive morphological changes in the nuclei compatible with the apoptotic process. The results of this study indicate that tamoxifen prevents not only the proliferative effect of estrogen but also inhibits the secretion mechanism of the cells.
Effect of tamoxifen on the treatment of pituitary adenomas with bromocriptine]
[Article in Japanese]
Yamashita M, Hirakawa T, Tashiro Y, Matsuda T, Kibe M, Fukushima T, Tomonaga M.
Administration of 2-Br- alpha-ergocryptine (bromocriptine = CB-154) in combination with an estrogen-receptor blocking agent tamoxifen were performed in two patients with prolactinoma and non-functioning adenoma, respectively. Case 1 was a 50-year-old male with hyperprolactinemia, impaired pituitary function and visual disorders, in whom a large invasive sellar mass lesion was disclosed by CT scans, which extended supra- and parasellarly and extracranially into paranasal sinuses and pterygopalatine fossa on the left side. As the effect of bromocriptine therapy was partial in tumor size reduction and decrease of serum PRL level and it could not be gained further improvement except for the well recovered visual acuity, tamoxifen was used together with bromocriptine resulting further reduction of tumor size and normalization of serum PRL level. Unexpectedly the medication was ceased during and after a couple of bypass surgery for angina pectoris, and it was followed by elevation of serum PRL level and regrowth of the sellar tumor as well as impairment of vision.
By tamoxifen therapy the visual acuity showed some improvement, but the serum PRL level and the tumor size remained as before. Then the combination therapy with bromocriptine and tamoxifen was started again. Case 2 was a 38-year-old female with three children, who had secondary amenorrhea, galactorrhea, borderline level of serum PRL with impaired pituitary function and visual disorders. Under the diagnosis of a non-functioning pituitary adenoma with supra-sellar extension, a craniotomy was done and intracapsular partial removal of the tumor was made, revealing a chromophobe adenoma in light microscopy and undifferentiated cell adenoma in electron-micrographs.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
The influence of oestrogens on the sensitivity of PRL, TSH and LH to the inhibitory actions of dopamine in hyperprolactinaemic patients.
Valcavi R, Harris PE, Foord SM, Dieguez C, Evans PJ, Peters JR, Hall R, Scanlon MF.
The effects of oestrogen priming on the response of serum PRL, LH and TSH to dopamine (DA) infusion have been studied in hyperprolactinaemia. Seven hyperprolactinaemic females (aged 22-57 years; basal PRL 911-5130 mU/l, normal less than 420 mU/l), had submaximal DA infusions (0.06 micrograms/kg/min) over 3 h. The DA was repeated at the same dose after pretreatment with ethinyl oestradiol (E2) 100 micrograms daily by mouth for 3 d, and after a further 2 week interval, following pretreatment with tamoxifen (TAM) 20 mg twice a day by mouth for 3 d.
Ethinyl oestradiol pretreatment stimulated a rise in basal PRL levels in all subjects (mean +/- SE, mU/l; 2903 +/- 761 vs 2293 +/- 684, P less than 0.05) while TAM produced a higher but more variable increase in basal PRL levels (mean +/- SE, mU/l; 3402 +/- 757, P = n.s.). The individual increments in basal PRL levels after both E2 and TAM pretreatment showed a significant positive correlation with the greater decrement in PRL levels during E2 and TAM primed DA infusions (E2, r = 0.93, P less than 0.01, TAM, r = 0.83, P less than 0.05). E2 pretreatment produced a rise in basal LH levels in 5/7 patients, and there was a significant positive correlation between the rise in basal LH levels after E2 and the decremental change in LH levels in E2 primed DA infusions (r = 0.94, P less than 0.01).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)