PROLACTIN PULSATILITY IN PATIENTS WITH GONADAL DYSFUNCTION

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Abstract
Serum prolactin [PRL] concentrations were measured at 15 min intervals for 2 h on 240 occasions in 227 patients with symptoms which could have been due to hyperprolactinemic gonadal dysfunction. Of the 227, 138 had at least 1 elevated random PRL level. Overall, 22% showed no significant fluctuation in PRL. In 38% the levels fell progressively from the start of the sampling period, this pattern being found most commonly in patients complaining of infertility. The sampling method yielded a basal or unstressed PRL concentration which was, on average, 27% lower than random PRL concentrations. A comparison with clinical data, the radiological appearances of the pituitary fossa, and the response to bromocriptine therapy, has shown that there is no predictive information in the multiple sampling results that could not have been obtained from 2 or 3 random PRL levels.