Association of extrapituitary prolactin promoter polymorphism with disease susceptibility and anti-RNP antibodies in Mexican patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Abstract

Prolactin (PRL) is a 23-kDa protein that can be synthesized and secreted by pituitary and extrapituitary tissues such as immune cells due to its expression being regulated by two independent promoter regions. The promoter which is responsible for extrapituitary expression contains the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) ¿1149 G/T previously associated with autoimmune diseases in various populations. This study evaluates the relationship of PRL ¿1149 G/T polymorphism with PRL serum levels and clinical characteristics in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients from western Mexico.