IS HUMAN DECIDUA A SPECIALIZED ENDOCRINE ORGAN

The production of protein hormones by human placenta, amnion, chorion, and decidua capsularis was studied in in vitro experiments to establish whether the decidua could be considered a specialized structure for the release of PRL. The tissues were incubated in vitro and the release of PRL, GH, chorionic somatomammotropin, and CG was investigated. In the incubation medium, we found a highly significant rise of PRL during culture of the decidua, while no increase was noticed during culture of the placenta or amnion. Conversely, chorionic somatomammotropin and CG increased greatly and quickly during culture of placenta but not during culture of other tissues. No significant change was found in GH. The total PRL released into the medium from decidua was 3 times higher than the initial PRL content of this tissue; addition of puromycin to the incubation medium reduced both the tissue content and the release of PRL to almost 50% of the control values. This result raises the possibility of a specific endocrine activity of decidua capsularis. The PRL-secreting cells of the decidua probably do not possess dopamine receptors, since bromocriptine, when added to the medium, did not influence the release of PRL, confirming our previous in vivo observations. © 1979 by The Endocrine Society.