ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews investigations of uterine prolactin (PRL) secretion in normal and neoplastic tissues in human uterus and the effects of PRL on steroid production in the various endocrine and nonendocrine tissues. Factors involved in the regulation of PRL secretion in human decidual tissue, and the physiological role of decidual PRL in pregnancy, have been discussed from several viewpoints. However, there is limited information on the local effects of uterine PRL on urterine neoplasia. J. Kimura et al. performed the simultaneous measurements of PRL concentrations in uterine artery and vein to clarify the magnitude of uterine PRL production and the actual release into blood circulation during surgical treatment of uterine and ovarian tumors under general anesthesia. A hypothesis presented that uterine PRL affects cellular functions of normal and neoplastic uterine tissues in autocrine and paracrine fashions, should be taken into consideration in future research.
