Prolactinomas in Women: Current Therapies

Excerpt

Since prolactin was shown by Kleinberg and Frantz (1) to be a hormone separate from human growth hormone and since the development of radioimmunoassays for prolactin (2), the diagnosis of hyperprolactinemia as a cause of galactorrhea and amenorrhea has become common. Among unscreened women with amenorrhea, 15% to 25% may have elevated levels of prolactin; if one preselects for galactorrhea, the incidence is even higher (3).

Normally prolactin is under chronic suppression by dopamine, released from the hypothalamus. Prolactin secretion can be inhibited by pharmacologic agents that mimic the effect of dopamine (levodopa, bromocriptine, pergolide mesylate), and stimulated by direct