Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Klinik Gelisim, cilt.8, sa.1, ss.3432-3435, 1995 (Scopus)
Since cytokines are involved in the regulation of anterior pituitary functions, in this study we investigated whether alpha-interferon therapy may affect the secretion of anterior pituitary hormones in the early and late phase of its long term administration. For this purpose, we measured serum PRL, GH and TSH levels in 26 patients (11 females and 15 males) who were being treated with alpha-interferon for chronic hepatitis for at least 6 months. When all the patients were combined, the mean serum PRL and GH levels increased significantly (p<0.0001) after 1 week of treatment. Mean serum TSH level decreased slightly but not significantly during the treatment. The increase in serum PRL level was significantly higher in premenopausal than post-menopausal women and men. These results show that alpha-interferon therapy can increase serum PRL and GH levels particularly in the first weeks of treatment and then in increased serum PRL and GH levels return to baseline values. Additionally, it can also cause a slight but not significant decrease in serum TSH level.