Cellular distribution of prolactin receptors in human digestive tissues

In the present study we analyzed the expression of prolactin receptors (PRLR) in human digestive tissues by immunohistochemistry. PRLR immunoreactivity was primarily localized in the cytoplasm. However, in some organs (liver and salivary glands) a nuclear positivity was also found. The liver was used as control and showed a diffuse immunostaining in the parenchymal cells. In the gastrointestinal tract, PRLR immunoreactivity was observed in the mucosa, muscularis layer, and nervous plexuses. The more intense immunostaining in the mucosa of the different segments was as follows: esophagus, superficial layers of the stratified squamous epithelium and mucous glands; stomach, parietal cells; small intestine, absorptive and Paneth cells; and colon, surface epithelium and superficial half of the crypts of Lieberkühn. In the salivary glands, immunoreactivity was strong in the mucous tubules, moderate in the ducts, and weak in the serous cells. Endocrine pancreas showed a more intense immunoreactivity than the pancreatic acini. By serial sections of the islets of Langerhans we showed that immunostaining was confined to B cells. These findings demonstrate the widespread distribution of PRLR in human digestive tissues and its localization both in cytoplasms and nuclei.