Uterine Notch2 facilitates pregnancy recognition and corpus luteum maintenance via upregulating decidual Prl8a2

The maternal recognition of pregnancy is a necessary prerequisite for gestation maintenance through prolonging the corpus luteum lifespan and ensuring progesterone production. In addition to pituitary prolactin and placental lactogens, decidual derived prolactin family members have been presumed to possess luteotropic effect. However, there was a lack of convincing evidence to support this hypothesis. Here, we unveiled an essential role of uterine Notch2 in pregnancy recognition and corpus luteum maintenance. Uterine-specific deletion of Notch2 did not affect female fertility. Nevertheless, the expression of decidual Prl8a2, a member of the prolactin family, was downregulated due to Notch2 ablation. Subsequently, we interrupted pituitary prolactin function to determine the luteotropic role of the decidua by employing the lipopolysaccharide-induced prolactin resistance model, or blocking the prolactin signaling by prolactin receptor-Fc fusion protein, or repressing pituitary prolactin release by dopamine receptor agonist bromocriptine, and found that Notch2-deficient females were more sensitive to these stresses and ended up in pregnancy loss resulting from abnormal corpus luteum function and insufficient serum progesterone level. Overexpression of Prl8a2 in Notch2 knockout mice rescued lipopolysaccharide-induced abortion, highlighting its luteotropic function. Further investigation adopting Rbpj knockout and DNMAML overexpression mouse models along with chromatin immunoprecipitation assay and luciferase analysis confirmed that Prl8a2 was regulated by the canonical Notch signaling. Collectively, our findings demonstrated that decidual prolactin members, under the control of uterine Notch signaling, assisted pituitary prolactin to sustain corpus luteum function and serum progesterone level during post-implantation phase, which was conducive to pregnancy recognition and maintenance.

Hyperprolactinemia in a male pituitary androgen receptor knockout mouse model is associated with a female-like pattern of lactotroph development

Circulating prolactin concentration in rodents and humans is sexually dimorphic. Estrogens are a well-characterised stimulator of prolactin release. Circulating prolactin fluctuates throughout the menstrual/estrous cycle of females in response to estrogen levels, but remains continually low in males. We have previously identified androgens as an inhibitor of prolactin release through characterisation of males of a mouse line with a conditional pituitary androgen receptor knockout (PARKO) which have an increase in circulating prolactin, but unchanged lactotroph number. In the present study we aimed to specify the cell type that androgens act on to repress prolactin release. We examined lactotroph-specific, Pit1 lineage-specific and neural-specific conditional AR knockouts, however they did not duplicate the high circulating prolactin seen in the pituitary androgen receptor knockout line, suggesting that the site of androgen repression of prolactin production was another cell type. Using electron microscopy to examine ultrastructure we showed that pituitary androgen receptor knockout male mice develop lactotrophs that resemble those seen in female mice, and that this is likely to contribute to the increase in circulating prolactin. When castrated, pituitary androgen receptor knockout males have significantly reduced circulating prolactin compared to intact males, which suggests that removal of circulating estrogens as well as androgens reduces the stimulation of pituitary prolactin release. However, when expression of selected estrogen-regulated anterior pituitary genes were examined there were no differences in expression level between controls and knockouts. Further investigation is needed into prolactin regulation by changes in androgen-estrogen balance, which has implications not only in the normal sexual dimorphism of physiology but also in diseases such as hyperprolactinemia.

The efficacy of high-dose cabergoline treatment of prolactinomas resistant to standard doses: a clinical observation

Hyperprolactinemia (HP) is one of the most common neuroendocrine disorders. In 60% of cases, pathological HP is caused by pituitary prolactin-secreting adenoma. Therapy with agonists of dopamine type 2 receptors (D2 receptor agonists) is a method of choice for the treatment of pathological HP which allows to achieve prolactin normalization and reduction of pituitary adenoma in most cases. However, 15-20% of patients are resistant to D2 receptor agonists, and the question of overcoming this resistance is highly relevant. Different approaches are considered to solve this problem, one - is to increase the dose of D2 receptor agonists up to the maximally tolerated. In this article, we present a clinical observation of a patient with a partial resistance to D2 receptor agonists who demonstrated a good response to treatment with high doses of cabergoline.

Microcystin-LR: Effects on Freshwater Catfish Heteropneustes fossilis Prolactin Cells

Background: Previous studies have been reported on the toxicity of Microcystin-LR, which is produced by cyanobacterial growth in fish, such as Heteropneustes fossilis (H. fossilis). However, no studies have been conducted on the effects of Microcystin-LR on the prolactin cells of H. fossilis. Methods: H. fossilis fish were intraperitoneally injected with Microcystin-LR (2.5μg/25g) and sacrificed after 1, 3, 5, 10 and 15 days. The blood samples were analyzed for the calcium levels. Histological slides of the pituitary prolactin cells were stained with Herlant’s tetrachrome and Heidenhan’s azan techniques, and examined under light microscopy. Results: The prolactin cells exposed to Microcystin-LR exhibited no structural changes on day 1. However, hyperactive prolactin cells exhibited cellular degranulation from day 3 to day 5. On days 10 and 15, degenerated and vacuolated prolactin cells were also observed. The nuclear volume of prolactin cells exposed to MC-LR increased progressively from day 3 to day 10 but on day 15 the nuclear volume returned to normal. The serum calcium level of MC-LR injected specimens showed hypocalcemia from day 3 to day 10. On day 15, the level became normal. Conclusions: Our results indicated that the serum calcium levels and prolactin cells were altered after exposure to microcystin-LR.

Prolactin: Regulation and Actions

Prolactin (PRL) is a protein hormone with a molecular weight of approximately 23 KD, although variants in size exist. It binds to receptor dimers on the cytoplasmic surface of its target cells and acts primarily through the activation of the STAT5 pathway, which in turn alters gene activity. Pituitary prolactin, while being the main, but not only, source of PRL, is primarily under inhibitory control by hypothalamic dopaminergic neurons. Release of dopamine (DA) into the hypothalamo-hypophyseal portal system binds on DA D2 receptors on PRL-producing lactotrophs within the anterior pituitary gland. Prolactin’s functions include the regulation of behaviors that include maternal care, anxiety, and feeding as well as lactogenesis, hepatic bile formation, immune function, corpora lutea function, and more generally cell proliferation and differentiation. Dysfunctional conditions related to prolactin’s actions include its role in erectile dysfunction and male infertility, mood disorders such as depression during the postpartum period, possible roles in breast and hepatic cancer, prostate hyperplasia, galactorrhea, obesity, immune function, and diabetes. Future studies will further elucidate both the underlying mechanisms of prolactin action together with prolactin’s involvement in these clinical disorders.

Role of Oxytocin in Prolactin Secretion during Late Pregnancy

Background/Aims: During late pregnancy, the blockade of progesterone action by mifepristone (Mp) treatment induces a dopaminergic tone fall that enables naloxone (NAL) administration to release pituitary prolactin (PRL). We determined whether oxytocin (OT), which stimulates PRL secretion acting directly on anterior pituitary lactotrophs, mediates the stimulatory action of Mp and NAL on PRL secretion during late pregnancy. Methods: On day 19 of pregnancy, circulating and pituitary OT and PRL levels were measured by radioimmunoassay, 10, 20, and 30 min after NAL (given at 17:30 h) in rats pretreated with Mp (at 08:00 h). Pituitary OT receptor (OTR) expression in Mp-treated rats was evaluated by RT-PCR. Activation of OT neurons in Mp-NAL-treated rats was measured counting double immunoreactive neurons for Fos and OT (Fos-OT-ir) in supraoptic nuclei (SON), and medial (PaMM) and lateral magnocellular divisions of paraventricular nuclei. Results: Elevated serum OT and decreased pituitary OT were observed 10 min after NAL administration in both vehicle- and Mp-treated rats. This PRL increase was prevented by previous i.p. administration of an OTR antagonist, but intracerebroventricular OT administration was ineffective. Mp increased pituitary OTR expression at 18:00 h. Only Mp-NAL increased Fos-OT-ir neurons in the PaMM and SON. Conclusions: These findings suggest that PRL secretion induced by Mp-NAL treatment is preceded by OT release. These results, together with the activation of hypothalamic OT neurons and the higher expression of pituitary OTR, support the hypothesis that, during late pregnancy, OT may act at the pituitary level to facilitate PRL secretion if the inhibitory action of progesterone is blocked.

Pregnenolone sulfate regulates prolactin production in the rat pituitary

Pregnenolone sulfate (PS) is a neuroactive steroid hormone produced in the brain. In this study, the effects of PS on synthesis and secretion of rat pituitary prolactin (PRL) were examined. To accomplish this, GH3 rat pituitary adenoma cells were treated with PS, which showed significantly increased mRNA and protein levels of PRL compared with the control. The mechanism of action responsible for the effects of PS on PRL synthesis and secretion was investigated by pretreating cells with inhibitors of traditional PRL- or the PS-related signaling pathway. PS-stimulated PRL transcription was significantly reduced by inhibitors of PKA, PKC and MAPK, but unchanged by GABAAR and NMDAR inhibitors. Western blotting analysis revealed that the total ERK1/2 level was upregulated in a time-dependent manner following PS treatment. An approximate 10% increase in GH3 cell proliferation was also observed in response to PS relative to the control. In the animal study, levels of PRL in the pituitary and in serum were elevated by PS. PS-stimulated PRL synthesis was also found to be associated with decreased expression of PRL target genes such as GNRH1, FSHB and LHB. These findings show that PS upregulates PRL synthesis and secretion in vivo and in vitro via MAPK signaling, suggesting that it has the potential for use as a therapeutic hormone to treat PRL-related disorders such as hypoprolactinemia and low milk supply.