Growth hormone and prolactin gene expression in human densely and sparsely granulated somatotroph adenomas by in situ hybridization with digoxigenin-labeled probes.

We studied growth hormone (GH) and prolactin (PRL) messenger ribonucleic acids (mRNAs) in 14 cases with densely granulated somatotroph (DG) adenomas and 10 cases with sparsely granulated somatotroph (SG) adenomas using in situ hybridization with digoxigenin-labeled probes and correlated these data with their immunohistochemical results. A good correlation between in situ hybridization results and immunohistochemical data was found in most cases examined. The DG adenomas generally had a diffuse and intense GH immunoreactivity and GH hybridization signal, whereas in SG adenomas the number of cells exhibiting a GH mRNA signal and the strength of the GH mRNA signal in these cells were relatively lower than those of DG adenomas, indicating that lower expression of the GH mRNA signal is responsible for lower GH production in SG adenomas. In addition, PRL mRNA expression differed in the two types of adenoma; in DG adenomas, seven cases (50%) expressed PRL mRNA signal with a focal or scattered distribution despite normal serum PRL levels, but two showed no PRL immunoreactivity. In contrast, in SG adenomas, only one case contained a few cells possessing a PRL mRNA signal despite having no PRL immunoreactivity. It can be concluded that DG and SG adenomas, which have been considered variants of the same tumor, display definite differences as to GH or PRL gene expression in each type of adenoma.