- Email: [email protected]
Progress in prolactin physiology and pathology
Book reviews
345
has been appended. There is no doubt that these ‘Recent Advances’ will appeal to a wide audience of endocrinologists and medical students. M. de Visscher , Brussels
Progress in Prolactin Physiology and Pathology. Developments in Endocrinology, Vol. 2, edited by C. Robyn and M. Harter. Elsevier/North-Holland Biomedical Press, Amsterdam-New York, 1978. pp. xi + 425. US $ 52.75; Dfl. 121.-. Since the First International Symposium on Human Prolactin was held in Brussels in 1973, important advances have been made in prolactin research. The number of scientific papers devoted to this pituitary hormone has increased exponentially during recent years and so has the number of symposia. This book contains the contributions to an International Symposium on Prolactin held 20-22 October 1977 in Nice, France. In their foreword the editors state that the idea of this meeting was to bring together some of the leading investigators in diverse areas of prolactin research. A look at the author index confirms that this aim of the organizing committee has largely been achieved, with most of the leading centres in prolactin research having contributed one or more papers: In all, this volume contains 31 articles divided into 4 main sections: assay methods, morphology and receptors (6 papers), control of secretion (7), physiology (7) and pathology and therapy (11). The first section deals with the radioimmunoassay of human prolactin and the problems encountered in standardization of the assay due to molecular heterogeneity of the prolactin molecule. It also includes a paper on the molecular events induced by the interaction of TRH with pituitary cells and two papers on the binding characteristics and endocrine control of receptors for lactogenic hormones in pregnant rabbit mammary gland and rat liver tissue respectively. The section concludes with an interesting review and some new data on experimental mammary tumours by Pasteels and co-workers who propose in their paper a novel theory to account for the loss of hormone dependence during growth of these tumours. Most of the work reported in ‘Control of Secretion’ relates to the effects on prolactin secretion of various neuropharmacological agents. There is increasing experimental evidence that dopamine acts as a physiological prolactin-inhibiting factor at the level of the pituitary gland and that the turnover of dopamine in the hypothalamus influences the secretion of pituitary gonadotrophins. Prolactin stimulates dopamine turnover and modifies the morphological appearance of LHRH neurones. The stimulatory effect of oestrogens on prolactin release seems to be directly exerted at pituitary level by a dopamine-antagonist-like action. Included under the section ‘Physiology’ are two contributions on comparative aspects of prolactin physiology and one paper on the possible role of prostaglandins as second messengers of prolactin action. The remainder of this section contains some recent
346
Book reviews
findings on the peripheral levels and possible role of prolactin during gestation and the postpartum period in both sheep and women. The clinical studies reported in the section on ‘Pathology and Therapy’ deal with the incidence, diagnosis, clinical and biochemical effects, and therapy of hyperprolactinaemia in both men and women. As is inevitable with a multi-author book, the style of writing is very variable, but the text is clearly printed and the standard of the figures is good. Because of the rapid publication of these proceedings a considerable proportion of the reported work has not been published and this book will be of interest, therefore, to those involved in prolactin research. It is certainly not one of those books one would recommend to people who wish to become acquainted in a more general way with current concepts on the physiology and pathology of human prolactin. P. van Look, Leiden
345
has been appended. There is no doubt that these ‘Recent Advances’ will appeal to a wide audience of endocrinologists and medical students. M. de Visscher , Brussels
Progress in Prolactin Physiology and Pathology. Developments in Endocrinology, Vol. 2, edited by C. Robyn and M. Harter. Elsevier/North-Holland Biomedical Press, Amsterdam-New York, 1978. pp. xi + 425. US $ 52.75; Dfl. 121.-. Since the First International Symposium on Human Prolactin was held in Brussels in 1973, important advances have been made in prolactin research. The number of scientific papers devoted to this pituitary hormone has increased exponentially during recent years and so has the number of symposia. This book contains the contributions to an International Symposium on Prolactin held 20-22 October 1977 in Nice, France. In their foreword the editors state that the idea of this meeting was to bring together some of the leading investigators in diverse areas of prolactin research. A look at the author index confirms that this aim of the organizing committee has largely been achieved, with most of the leading centres in prolactin research having contributed one or more papers: In all, this volume contains 31 articles divided into 4 main sections: assay methods, morphology and receptors (6 papers), control of secretion (7), physiology (7) and pathology and therapy (11). The first section deals with the radioimmunoassay of human prolactin and the problems encountered in standardization of the assay due to molecular heterogeneity of the prolactin molecule. It also includes a paper on the molecular events induced by the interaction of TRH with pituitary cells and two papers on the binding characteristics and endocrine control of receptors for lactogenic hormones in pregnant rabbit mammary gland and rat liver tissue respectively. The section concludes with an interesting review and some new data on experimental mammary tumours by Pasteels and co-workers who propose in their paper a novel theory to account for the loss of hormone dependence during growth of these tumours. Most of the work reported in ‘Control of Secretion’ relates to the effects on prolactin secretion of various neuropharmacological agents. There is increasing experimental evidence that dopamine acts as a physiological prolactin-inhibiting factor at the level of the pituitary gland and that the turnover of dopamine in the hypothalamus influences the secretion of pituitary gonadotrophins. Prolactin stimulates dopamine turnover and modifies the morphological appearance of LHRH neurones. The stimulatory effect of oestrogens on prolactin release seems to be directly exerted at pituitary level by a dopamine-antagonist-like action. Included under the section ‘Physiology’ are two contributions on comparative aspects of prolactin physiology and one paper on the possible role of prostaglandins as second messengers of prolactin action. The remainder of this section contains some recent
346
Book reviews
findings on the peripheral levels and possible role of prolactin during gestation and the postpartum period in both sheep and women. The clinical studies reported in the section on ‘Pathology and Therapy’ deal with the incidence, diagnosis, clinical and biochemical effects, and therapy of hyperprolactinaemia in both men and women. As is inevitable with a multi-author book, the style of writing is very variable, but the text is clearly printed and the standard of the figures is good. Because of the rapid publication of these proceedings a considerable proportion of the reported work has not been published and this book will be of interest, therefore, to those involved in prolactin research. It is certainly not one of those books one would recommend to people who wish to become acquainted in a more general way with current concepts on the physiology and pathology of human prolactin. P. van Look, Leiden