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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1986 Apr;83(8):2599–2603. doi: 10.1073/pnas.83.8.2599

Prolactin as a modulator of lymphocyte responsiveness provides a possible mechanism of action for cyclosporine.

P C Hiestand, P Mekler, R Nordmann, A Grieder, C Permmongkol
PMCID: PMC323346  PMID: 2939454

Abstract

Lymphocyte responsiveness in rats was found to depend on serum prolactin levels. Blocking pituitary prolactin release with bromocriptine severely reduces lymphocyte reactivity in vitro (mixed lymphocyte reaction) as well as in vivo (graft-versus-host reaction). In addition, evidence for a prolactin/growth hormone-related mRNA species produced in mitogen- and antigen-stimulated lymphocytes has been obtained. Prolactin was shown to compete in a dose-dependent fashion with the immunosuppressant cyclosporine (cyclosporin A) for a common binding site on the surface of T lymphocytes. Further, stimulation of prolactin secretion reversed the immunosuppression induced by cyclosporine. We conclude that prolactin is involved in the maintenance of T-cell immunocompetence and that the immunosuppressive effects of cyclosporine may be mediated by the displacement of prolactin from binding sites on lymphocytes.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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