Prolactin receptors in uterine leiomyomas

OBJECTIVE: To identify the location of prolactin receptors in patients with uterine leiomyomas and their host myometrium as well as normal myometrium.

METHODS: A case control study was conducted at the College of Medicine Al-Nahrain University, Baghdad, Iraq during the period from 2004-2006. The samples were collected at Obstetrics and Gynecological Departments of 4 hospitals in Baghdad City (Al-Khadimiya Teaching Hospital, Al-Noor, Al-Kharch, and Al-Saadoon Hospital). Sections from large and small tumors (n=53) with their host myometriums and from normal myometriums (n=40) were stained immunohistochemically for prolactin receptors.

RESULTS: Prolactin receptors were positively seen in all cases examined including patient and comparison tissues, in the form of dark brown staining. Staining was heterogenous and varied in intensity from one case to another and sometimes from one area to another in the same section.

CONCLUSION: The increase in prolactin receptors in leiomyoma is expected given that the underlying host myometrium is abnormal.