RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Prolactin and growth hormone responses to hypoglycemia in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis.
JF The Journal of Rheumatology
JO J Rheumatol
FD The Journal of Rheumatology
SP 2418
OP 2421
VO 31
IS 12
A1 Jozef Rovensky
A1 Richard Imrich
A1 Frantisek Malis
A1 Martin Zlnay
A1 Ladislav Macho
A1 Juraj Koska
A1 Milan Vigas
YR 2004
UL http://www.jrheum.org/content/31/12/2418.abstract
AB OBJECTIVE: Prolactin (PRL) and growth hormone (GH) are pituitary hormones with immunomodulating properties. Their upregulated secretion may play a role in the pathogenesis of chronic inflammatory diseases. We evaluated PRL and GH responses to secretion stimulus in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and ankylosing spondylitis (AS). METHODS: Insulin hypoglycemia (0.1 IU/kg) was induced in 15 women with RA, 18 men with AS, and healthy controls matched for age, sex and body mass index. Plasma concentrations of glucose, PRL, GH, interleukin 6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-a) were analyzed. RESULTS: RA patients had significantly lower area under the curve (AUC) of PRL (p = 0.049) compared to RA controls. During hypoglycemia double or higher increase of plasma PRL occurred in 5 RA (33%) patients and in 8 RA controls (57%). Using the General Linear Model procedure, no significant differences in PRL or GH responses were observed in patients with RA and AS. TNF-a was higher in patients with RA compared to RA controls (p < 0.05). There was no significant difference in TNF-a concentrations between AS patients and AS controls. IL-6 was higher in RA patients compared to controls (p < 0.05) and in AS patients compared to controls (p < 0.01). Significant positive correlation was found between TNF-a levels and AUC of PRL in AS patients (r = 0.46, p = 0.047), but not in the 2 control groups or in RA patients. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate no upregulated PRL or GH responses to stimulation in premenopausal women with RA or men with AS.