Serum prolactin is associated with apoptosis in men with human immunodeficiency virus infection

Abstract

SummaryWe examined the in vivo and in vitro production of prolactin (PRL) in 20 untreated HIV-infected men compared to 14 uninfected men and its association with the cell cycle and apoptosis. Compared to uninfected men, the HIV-infected men had: (i) higher fasting serum bioactive (BIO) PRL; (ii) lower serum immunoreactive (RIA) and BIO-PRL responses to intravenous metoclopramide; (iii) greater BIO-RIA PRL ratio both fasting and during intravenous metoclopramide; (iv) lower percentage of non-stimulated PBMC in the G 0 /G 1 phase, but a higher percentage in the S phase, of the cell cycle with normal response to Concanavalin-A; and (v) higher in vitro production of BIO-PRL by non-stimulated PBMC, which was blocked after Concanavalin-A. Fasting serum BIO-PRL positively correlated with the percent of non-stimulated PBMC in S + G 2 /M phases. The percentage of apoptotic PBMC negatively correlated with CD4 + T lymphocytes and with the area under the serum RIA-PRL curve, but positively correlated with the area under the curve for the BIO/RIA ratio. These results suggest that in these HIV-infected men: (i) a diminished dopaminergic tone may exist, as an adaptive mechanism attempting to survive; and (ii) BIO-PRL may participate as a cofactor in the stimulation of T-cell proliferation.

Differences in nocturnal basal and rhythmic prolactin secretion in untreated compared to treated HIV‐infected men are associated with CD4+ T‐lymphocytes

“…In this regard, our findings may have clinical relevance because PRL has pleiotropic effects and limited toxicity after systemic administration in animals 47 . Therefore, the possibility of using recombinant human PRL as an adjunct therapeutic approach to favour immune reconstitution in HIV‐infected patients does not seem inappropriate 18 , 20 , 47 , 48 .…”

“…Recent studies using the intravenous administration of metoclopramide, have indirectly suggested the existence of low DA tone in HIV‐infected men (an abnormality which cannot be detected by measuring serum PRL in a single blood specimen) in an effort to maintain the highest physiologic PRL release and to stimulate lymphocyte proliferation at a maximal possible rate 16 , 17 . This might represent an adaptive mechanism in an attempt to survive which also could even have therapeutic implications 18 , 19 , 20 . Furthermore, the effect of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) on endocrine status in HIV‐infected subjects has not been previously evaluated.…”

Serum prolactin levels and prolactin mRNA expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells in hepatitis C virus infection

“…In general, the range of serum prolactin levels is much higher in female than in male, and thus the differences based on the responses to infection would not be discriminated in female subjects. Thus the prolactin studies of many infectious diseases [Croxson et al, ; Graef et al, ; Montero et al, ; Parra et al, ; Collazos et al, ; Leanos‐Miranda and Contreras‐Hernandez, ] had been selected for the male subjects.…”

“…In general, the range of serum prolactin levels is much higher in female than in male, and thus the differences based on the responses to infection would not be discriminated in female subjects. Thus the prolactin studies of many infectious diseases [Croxson et al, 1989;Graef et al, 1994;Montero et al, 2001;Parra et al, 2001;Collazos et al, 2002;Leanos-Miranda and Contreras-Hernandez, 2002] had been selected for the male subjects. Recently, some studies showed that hyperprolactinemia was found in patients with chronic hepatitis C as a part of abnormality of hormone parameters [Durazzo et al, 2006;Hofny et al, 2011] or with an association of hyperferritinemia [Sousa et al, 2011].…”

“…In fact, it has been reported that the serum levels of prolactin increase during the course of several infectious diseases such as blastomycosis [Arora et al, 1979] and biharzial hepatosplenomegaly [Abdel Rahman et al, 1989]. Studies on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection have shown that chronically HIV-infected men have higher serum prolactin levels than healthy men, and that approximately 20% of HIV-infected men have higher serum prolactin levels than the reference level [Croxson et al, 1989;Graef et al, 1994;Montero et al, 2001;Parra et al, 2001;Collazos et al, 2002;Leanos-Miranda and Contreras-Hernandez, 2002]. Recent studies have shown an association of higher serum prolactin levels in patients with chronic HCV infection compared with healthy controls [Durazzo et al, 2006;Hofny et al, 2011].…”