The thymulin lactotropic axis in rodents: thymectomy, immunoneutralization and gene transfer studies
- Martines, Eliana V.
- Reggiani, Paula Cecilia
- Camihort, Gisela A.
- Luna, Georgina
- Zappa Villar, María Florencia
- Brown, Oscar Alfredo
- Goya, Rodolfo Gustavo
- Console, Gloria M.
DOIAbstract
Objectives: There is clear evidence on the existence of a thymus-pituitary axis which seems to be particularly important during perinatal life. In particular, the thymic peptide thymulin has been shown to be a relevant player in thymuspituitary communication. Our goal was to explore the effect of thymulin on circulating prolactin (PRL) levels in different animal models. To this end we undertook a series of experiments in rats and mice, implementing adult thymectomy, thymulin immunoneutralization in normal C57BL/6 mice and neonatal thymulin gene therapy in nude mice. Methods: We assessed the impact of the above manipulations on PRL secretion and lactotrope morphology by measuring serum PRL by radioimmunoassay and by performing morphometric a...
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