title: Influence of hyperprolactinemia on collagen fibers in the lacrimal gland of female mice.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To quantify the collagen fibers in the lacrimal gland of female mice with hyperprolactinemia.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty adult female mice were randomly divided into two groups with 20 animals each: nonpregnant control (CTR1, control group, 0.2 mL of saline solution) and nonpregnant experimental (HPRL1, experimental group, 200 µg/day metoclopramide). Treatments lasted for 50 consecutive days. On day 50, 10 females from each group (control and experimental) were euthanized in the proestrus phase; then, the blood was collected and the lacrimal glands were removed. Thereafter, the remaining females were placed with the mates and continued to receive treatment with saline solution or metoclopramide. On the 6th post-coital day, 10 pregnant females from the control group (CTR2) and 10 pregnant females from the experimental group (HPRL2) were euthanized, after which blood was collected and the lacrimal glands removed. The lacrimal glands were processed for morphological analyses and collagen quantification, and prolactin and sex steroid levels were measured in the blood samples. Data were statistically analyzed using an unpaired Student t test (p<0.05).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Morphological analysis revealed greater structural tissue disorganization of the lacrimal glands in the metoclopramide-treated groups. The total collagen content was significantly higher in the HPRL1 group than in the CTR1 group (p<0.05), whereas the difference between the CTR2 and HPRL2 groups was not significant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data suggest an impairment in the functioning of the lacrimal gland as a consequence of increased prolactin levels and decreased serum levels of estrogen and progesterone.
authors.affiliation: Morfologia e Genética, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, BR.
authors.forename: Ariadne Stavare Leal
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Araujo
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, BR.
authors.forename: Manuel de Jesus
authors.initials: Mde J
authors.lastname: Simões
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, BR.
authors.forename: Carina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Verna
authors.affiliation: Oftalmologia, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, BR.
authors.forename: Ricardo Santos
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Simões
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, BR.
authors.forename: José Maria
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Soares Júnior
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, BR.
authors.forename: Edmund Chada
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Baracat
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, BR.
authors.forename: Regina Célia Teixeira
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Gomes
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003094:Collagen / Q000032:analysis / Q000187:drug effects*; D004958:Estradiol / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006966:Hyperprolactinemia / Q000097:blood / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000473:pathology; D007765:Lacrimal Apparatus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology; D008787:Metoclopramide; D051379:Mice; D011247:Pregnancy; D011359:Proestrus / Q000097:blood; D011374:Progesterone / Q000097:blood; D011388:Prolactin / Q000097:blood; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D011897:Random Allocation
chemical_list: D011374:Progesterone; D004958:Estradiol; D011388:Prolactin; D003094:Collagen; D008787:Metoclopramide