Significance of Elevated HMGB1 Expression in Pituitary Apoplexy.

BACKGROUND/AIM: High-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) is a nuclear DNA-binding protein that exerts a range of proinflammatory actions when it is secreted extracellularly. We hypothesized that HMGB1 released from damaged cells in pituitary apoplexy would exacerbate the neurological symptoms due to acute inflammation.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

All the patients included in this study suffered from non-functioning pituitary adenoma. Four patients with apoplexy and three patients without apoplexy were included in this study. They underwent endonasal transsphenoidal endoscopic surgery to resect the tumors. We conducted enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to measure HMGB1 in the surgical specimens.

RESULTS

Patients with apoplexy expressed HMGB1 at significantly higher levels than those in the non-apoplexy group (p=0.0478).

CONCLUSION

HMGB1 may be involved in subacute inflammation of pituitary apoplexy. Further work is needed to elucidate the detailed biological significance of HMGB1 in this disease.