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THE DIAGNOSTIC VALUE OF PHARMACODYNAMIC TESTS IN THE HYPERPROLACTINAEMIC SYNDROME
Author(s) -
AYALON D.,
PERSITZ E.,
RAVID R.,
JEDWAB G.,
AVIDAN S.,
CORDOVA T.,
HARELL A.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
clinical endocrinology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.055
H-Index - 147
eISSN - 1365-2265
pISSN - 0300-0664
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2265.1979.tb03066.x
Subject(s) - bromocriptine , prolactin , medicine , chlorpromazine , endocrinology , basal (medicine) , dopaminergic , metoclopramide , hormone , dopamine , insulin , vomiting
SUMMARY Patterns of prolactin (PRL) secretion were studied in a group of 18 hyperprolactinaemic patients with galactorrhoea and menstrual disorders and in a control group of thrty‐two women in the early puerperium (24 h after a normal delivery) following provocative (TRH and Chlorpromazine) and suppressive (L‐Dopa and bromocriptine) stimuli. Five out of the eighteen hyperprolactinaemic patients tested had radiological evidence of a pituitary tumour, and two were treated surgically. The early puerperium patients with elevated basal PRL levels (100–700 ng/ml) demonstrated a significant PRL response to the various treatments. On the other hand, in the hyperprolactinaemic group, an impaired PRL response to TRH, Chlorpromazine and L‐Dopa was noted in patients with basal PRL levels higher than 30 ng/ml, whereas bromocriptine suppressed effectively PRL levels in all the hyperprolactinaemic patients tested irrespective of their basal PRL concentrations. The ratio between the fall in PRL concentrations (as percent of the baseline) after L‐Dopa administration (Δ% L ) versus the PRL decrement after bromocriptine treatment (Δ% B ) was calculated. In the early puerperium group with normal pituitary prolactin secreting cells this ratio was equal to 0.8. In the hyperprolactinaemic group, the five patients with radiological evidence of a pituitary tumour had significantly lower ratios ranging from 0.2 to 0.57. These data suggest that in terms of prolactin release, prolactin producing tumour cells are intrinsically refractory to hypothalamic dopaminergic signals. The calculation of individual Δ% L /Δ% B ratios may serve, therefore, as a valuable indicator for early detection of autonomous pituitary prolactin secreting cells and for evaluation of the extent of the pituitary lesion.