RESTORATION OF OESTROGEN POSITIVE FEEDBACK EFFECT ON LH RELEASE BY BROMOCRIPTINE IN HYPERPROLACTINAEMIC PATIENTS WITH GALACTORRHOEA-AMENORRHOEA

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Abstract
Bromocriptine (5 mg) was administered for 3 wk to 8 hyperprolactinemic women with galactorrhea-amernorrhea, in whom the response of serum luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) to 100 .mu.g of i.v. LH-releasing hormone (LH-RH) had been evaluated. Conjugated estrogen (Premarin, 20 mg) was injected i.v. any day between the 10th and 12th day from the initiation of the treatment, and serum LH levels were serially determined for 120 h. Hyperresponse of LH with normal FSH response to LH-RH was observed in most patients. Bromocriptine treatment for 10-12 days significantly suppressed mean (.+-. SE) serum prolactin (PRL) levels from 65.1 .+-. 23.0 to 10.4 .+-. 2.0 ng/ml, while LH (12.6 .+-. 2.1 to 24.8 .+-. 5.9 mIU/ml) and estradiol (40.1 .+-. 7.6 to 111.4 .+-. 20.8 pg/ml) levels increased significantly. Patients on bromocriptine treatment showed LH release with a peak at 48 h after the injection of Premarin. The mean percent increases in LH were significantly higher than those in untreated patients with galactorrhea-amenorrhea between 32 and 96 h after the injection. The restoration of LH-releasing response to estrogen following suppression of PRL by bromocriptine may play an important role in induction of ovulation in hyperprolactinemic patients with galactorrhea-amenorrhea.