Endocrine Abstracts

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine produced by peripheral immune cells and also by pituitary endocrine cells. MIF exerts its pro-inflammatory actions in the host defence system by blocking the inhibitory effects of glucocorticoids on the release of other pro-inflammatory cytokines. Reports that pituitary folliculo-stellate (FS) cells show characteristics of immune cells led us to propose that FS cells may serve as an additional source o...

MIF can override the anti-inflammatory actions of glucocorticoids during immune response, and thus is an important pro-inflammatory factor. The presence of MIF in the cytoplasm of adenomatous cells of the anterior pituitary has been described, and high levels of MIF in other rapidly-proliferating tissues have been demonstrated. It is hypothesized that MIF release from these cells is influenced by the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis, and that ACTH and MIF are released simult...