Expression of Members of the Interleukin-6 Family of Cytokines and their Receptors in Human Pituitary and Pituitary Adenomas

There is increasing evidence for the role of members of the Interleukin (IL)-6 family in pituitary function, particularly in the regulation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis. However, there is only a limited amount of data available on the expression in human normal and tumorous pituitary tissue. In this study we investigated the expression of members of the IL-6 family of cytokines and their receptors in normal human pituitaries as well as pituitary adenomas using the RT-PCR technique. Eighteen pituitary adenoma biopsies removed in transsphenoidal surgery (six corticotrophic adenomas, four nonfunctioning adenomas, four somatotrophinomas, four prolactinomas) and six normal anterior pituitaries were examined for the expression of IL-6 receptor (-R), leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), LIF-R, IL-11, IL-11-R, oncostatin M (OSM), OSM-R, ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF), CNTF-R and cardiotrophin-1 (CT-1). All pituitaries and pituitary adenomas expressed OSM transcripts, whereas no expression of CT-1 wa...