Western Blot Analysis of Rat Pituitary Antigens Recognized by Human Antipituitary Antibodies.

Abstract

Antipituitary antibodies have been reported to exist in sera of patients with autoimmune endocrine disorders. In order to investigate the pituitary antigens recognized by antipituitary antibodies, we studied the autoantigens in rat pituitary membrane and cytosolic fractions recognized by human antipituitary antibodies and anti-human pituitary hormone antibodies. Sera from 6 patients which showed positive antipituitary antibodies by immunofluorescence methods were studied. Each serum identified some proteins with 14.5, 22, 47, 49, 65, 84 and 97.5 kDa. Anti-GH antibodies and anti-PRL antibodies identified a positive band with 22 kDa, suggesting that anti-GH and anti-PRL antibodies may be present in patients' sera. These results indicate that Western blot analysis of rat pituitary antigens recognized by human antipituitary antibodies is a useful method to elucidate the pathophysiology of autoimmune endocrine disorders.