The role of prolactin in healing process. A preliminary morphological study

ObjectiveThe authors hypothesized a possible use of prolactin as a therapeutic treatment of skin lesions. We investigated the relationship between topic prolactin-treatment of skin lesions and wound healing process in rats.Materials and MethodsSkin lesions were produced in both control and experimental rats. PRL-treatment (100 µl of PRL 2 ng/ml in PBS) was made ​​by dripping on lesions of experimental rats. Control rats were treated with only PBS. After 1 week, fragments of tissue from the bottom of lesions were obtained from three rats of both control and experimental groups. The authors continued the PRL-treatment to other rats until the complete healing. In skin specimens, analysis of the ultrastructural features of cells, cellular aggregates and extra-cellular matrix components were made by transmission electron microscopy. In skin specimens, computerized morphometry measurements of different cell types were also made.ResultsResults showed a progression of the healing process more advanced in treated rats as evidenced by the different percentages of distinct cell types after 1 week of PRL-treatment. Moreover in treated rats the healing process was slightly faster than in control ones (11-12 days vs 14-15 days, respectively).ConclusionsResults of our study supported the idea of a role of PRL on wound healing thanks to its effects on both angiogenesis and keratinocyte proliferation in re-epithelialization, and then on restoring of injured skin.