DECREASED CHEMOTAXIS OF NEUTROPHILS IN ACROMEGALY AND HYPERPROLACTINEMIA

Both growth hormone (GH) and prolactin (PRL) modulate immune responses in vitro. We studied chemotaxis under agarose of polymorphonuclear ce lls from patients with acromegaly or hyperprolactinemia. Polymorphonuc lear cells were purified by dextran sedimentation and subjected to sti mulation with N-formylmethionyl-phenylalanine. The results showed a de crease in both directed migration (acromegaly: 971 +/- 155 mu m; hyper polactinemia: 1123 +/- 137 mu m, expressed as mean +/- SEM) and sponta neous migration (acromegaly: 270 +/- 77 mu m; hyperpolactinemia: 298 /- 77 mu m) when compared to similar features from normal controls (di rected migration: 2019 +/- 99 mu m; spontaneous migration: 590 +/- 49 mu m) and from patients with non-GH/PRL-secreting pituitary tumours (d irected migration: 1633 +/- 282 mu m; spontaneous migration: 562 +/- 1 16 mu m), suggesting that this defect is selective for acromegaly and hyperprolactinemia. Our results point to a putative direct or indirect effect of GH and PRL on polymorphonuclear cell chemotaxis.