Decidual Prolactin Production by Organ Cultures of Human Endometrium: Effects of Continuous and Intermittent Progesterone Treatment1

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Abstract
Explants of human endometrium were cultured in serum-free nutrient medium and the effects of continuous and intermittent progesterone treatment on decidual prolactin (dPRL) production compared. The synthesis of dPRL was induced in cultures of proliferative and secretory endometrium when progesterone (50 ng/ml) was added to the medium. The amount of dPRL produced by these cultures increased gradually during 41 days of continuous progesterone treatment. When progesterone was provided for only the first 14 days of a 28-day cycle, dPRL production continued to increase during the first wk of culture in the absence of exogenous hormone and then began to decline. A similar pattern was elicited during a second 28-day cycle. Explants of endometrium fixed for histologic examination after either continuous or intermittent progesterone treatment contained large "decidualized" stromal cells. These findings indicate that (1) progesterone can induce and maintain decidualization and dPRL synthesis in organ cultures of human endometrium, (2) dPRL production increases immediately after progesterone is withdrawn, and (3) long-term dPRL production is not maintained in the absence or progesterone.