The aim of the study was to evaluate the presence of aromatase cytochrome P450 enzyme (P450AROM) expression in normal pituitary tissues and tumor tissues of patients with prolactinoma and to examine the impact of the P450AROM expression on clinical outcome. Twenty-six consecutive human pituitary tissue samples were obtained from autopsies performed at the Institute of Forensic Medicine. Sixty-four patients who had an adenomectomy between 2000 and 2009 after prolactinoma diagnosis with histologically confirmed pituitary tumor tissues were retrospectively included in this study. The slices from the pituitary tissues were subjected to immunohistochemical staining for evaluation of P450AROM and estrogen receptor beta (ER beta) subunit. Immunohistochemistry results were compared according to age, gender, remission rate, resistance and invasion status of the patients. Higher than normal P450AROM expression was found in the pituitary tissues of the patients with prolactinoma (p < 0.001). P450AROM intensity had no relation to resistance or remission in patients with prolactinoma (p = 0.44, p = 0.45, respectively). The subgroup analysis showed that compared to males without invasive adenoma, males with invasive adenoma had higher P450AROM expression (p = 0.048). ER beta was found to have an impact on resistance (p = 0.049). This study shows that P450AROM expression is present in the pituitary tissues of patients with prolactinoma and that this presence could be important in development and tumor behavior of prolactinomas.

The aim of this study is to evaluate aromatase expression in prolactin (PRL), thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), and growth hormone (GH) secreting cells. Nontumoral human pituitary specimens were obtained from autopsy samples. Aromatase co-expression was determined by double immunohistochemical staining and assessed using H scores. H scores for GH-aromatase co-expression (GH-aromatase), TSH-aromatase co-expression (TSH-aromatase), and PRL-aromatase co-expression (PRL-aromatase) were 83.1 ± 13.1, 95.6 ± 16.1, and 83.7 ± 14.5, respectively. TSH producing cells exhibited the highest H score for co-expression of aromatase (p < 0.001). There was no gender difference in terms of H scores for aromatase expression and double immunohistochemical staining results (p > 0.05 for all). There was a negative correlation between the H scores for aromatase and PRL-aromatase, GH-aromatase and TSH-aromatase, respectively (r = -0.592, p < 0.001; r = -0.593, p < 0.001; r = -0.650, p < 0.001, respectively). Also, H scores for aromatase co-expression of each hormone were negatively correlated with the H scores for the corresponding hormone (r = -0.503, p < 0.001 for PRL-aromatase and PRL; r = -0.470, p < 0.001 for GH-aromatase, and GH; r = -0.641, p < 0.001 for TSH-aromatase and TSH). H scores for mean aromatase, GH-aromatase, TSH-aromatase were invariant of age (p > 0.05 for all). Age was negatively correlated with PRL-aromatase H score (r = -0.373, p = 0.008). Our study demonstrated significant aromatase co-expression in PRL, GH, and TSH secreting cells of the human anterior pituitary gland. The mutual paracrinal regulation between aromatase and three adenohypophyseal hormones indicates that aromatase may have a regulatory role on the synthesis and secretion of these hormones.

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In this study, electrospinning was combined with UV curing technology for producing in situ photo cross-linked fibers from methacrylated cellulose acetate butyrate (CABIEM). ECV304 and 3T3 cells were seeded on electrospun fibrous scaffolds. Collagen modified CABIEM fibers were also prepared for improving cell adhesion and proliferation. Cross-linking and the morphology of the fibers were characterized by ATR-FTIR spectrometry and environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM). The cytotoxicity of the fibers was examined using the MTT cytotoxicity assay. According to the results, electrospun fibrous scaffolds are non-toxic and cell viability depends on the amount of collagen. It was found that cell adhesion and cell growth were enhanced as the collagen percentage was increased.