Growth hormone, prolactin, and insulin-like growth factors: new jobs for old players

Abstract

Growth hormone, prolactin, and insulin-like growth factor-I (somatomedin) were named for the first-recognized biologic activities to be associated with these proteins; i.e., somatic growth, milk production, and cartilage proliferation. However, the nagging question about the role of prolactin in males has long puzzled endocrinologists.

Additionally, while many of the growth-promoting properties of growth hormone are mediated by insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), neither growth hormone nor IGF-I completely restore normal body growth in hypophysectomized rodents. Likewise, the similar structural characteristics of insulin and IGF-I, the well-recognized extrahepatic synthesis and paracrine functions of IGF-I, and the expression of receptors for both insulin and IGF-I on leukocytes continue to intrigue both endocrinologists and immunologists.

This issue of Brain, Behavior, and Immunity is devoted to exploring new roles for these three well-recognized proteins. In these original, peer-reviewed research articles, the “target tissues” for the biological effects of growth hormone, IGF-I, insulin, and prolactin are not liver, muscle, adipocytes, or mammary epithelial cells. Instead, the “read out” for these hormones is monocytes, T and B lymphocytes, natural killer cells, and lymphoid and myeloid progenitors.

These reports advance one of the more rapidly growing areas aimed at understanding interactions between the neuroendocrine and immune systems and significantly advance this important component of the physiology of immunology. Several aspects of these contributions are discussed below.

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See also:

- Official Web Site: The Di Bella Method;

- Somatostatin in oncology, the overlooked evidences - In vitro, review and in vivo publications;

- The Di Bella Method (A Fixed Part - Somatostatin, Octreotide, Sandostatin LAR, analogues and/or derivatives);

- The Di Bella Method (A Fixed Part - Bromocriptine/Cabergoline);

- The Synergism of Somatostatin, Melatonin, Vitamins Prolactin and Estrogen Inhibitors Increased Survival, Objective Response and Performance Status In 297 Cases of Breast Cancer;

- Complete objective response, stable for 5 years, with the Di Bella Method, of multiple-metastatic carcinoma of the breast;

- Evaluation of the safety and efficacy of the first-line treatment with somatostatin combined with melatonin, retinoids, vitamin D3, and low doses of cyclophosphamide in 20 cases of breast cancer: a preliminary report;

- The Di Bella Method (DBM) improved survival, objective response and performance status in a retrospective observational clinical study on 122 cases of breast cancer;

- Complete objective response to biological therapy of plurifocal breast carcinoma;

- Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: Long-Lasting Remission with Combination of Cyclophosphamide, Somatostatin, Bromocriptine, Retinoids, Melatonin, and ACTH;

- Cyclophosphamide plus Somatostatin, Bromocriptin, Retinoids, Melatonin and ACTH in the Treatment of Low-grade Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphomas at Advanced Stage: Results of a Phase II Trial;

- Relapse of High-Grade Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma After Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation: A Case Successfully Treated With Cyclophosphamide Plus Somatostatin, Bromocriptine, Melatonin, Retinoids, and ACTH;

- Low-grade Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma at Advanced Stage: A Case Successfully Treated With Cyclophosphamide Plus Somatostatin, Bromocriptine, Retinoids, and Melatonin;

- The Di Bella Method (DBM) improved survival, objective response and performance status in a retrospective observational clinical study on 55 cases of Lymphomas;

- Large B-cells Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, Stage IV-AE: a Case Report;

- Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, Stage III-B-E: a Case Report.