Clinicobiochemical correlations in patients with the predominance of high-molecular prolactin in the blood serum

Abstract

A new rapid method for assesment of the ratio of immunoreactive prolactin forms with high and low molecular mass has been developed, which permits screening of large groups of patients. It was used in examinations of 44 women with hyperprolactinemea of various origin and with normoprolactinemic galactorrhea. High-molecular immunoreactive prolactin predominated in the blood serum of 25% of patients. This predominance did not depend on the origin of hyperprolactinemia, clinical picture of the disease, or level of total immunoreactive prolactin in the blood. Heterogenous clinical symptoms of the disease were characteristic of these patients: a typical symptom complex was absent in moderate hyperprolactinemia, whereas in patients with manifest hyperprolactinemia of a tumorous origin a classical clinical picture of persistent galactorrhea-amenorrhea was observed. A follow-up showed the predominance of high-molecular prolactin irrespective of the changes in the level of total immunoreactive prolactin in the blood, disease course, onset of pregnancy and labor.