To determine if serum prolactin levels were correlated with the level of depression in an ambulatory medical clinic population, prolactin was measured by immunoassay in all new medical patients completing the Langer Scale and the Popoff Index of Depression. Thirty-four of 71 patients (48%) were found to be depressed with a positive Popoff Scale. There was no difference in the prolactin levels in the depressed and nondepressed patients, who were matched for age and sex. Thus, depression, as seen in an ambulatory medical population, is not associated with increased prolactin release.

Adjustment Disorders↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Effect of bromocriptine and pergolide on pituitary tumor size and serum prolactin.

Forty-two patients with elevated serum prolactin were treated in a randomized, open-label trial with the conventional ergot bromocriptine, or a new ergot pergolide. Before treatment, the patients underwent thorough endocrine evaluation and computed tomographic scan. All patients had prolactin levels greater than 25 ng/ml, and 27 patients had a pituitary mass. Follow-up studies performed after 6 months of treatment showed both drugs effectively reduced prolactin levels to normal, though pergolide effects were more rapid. There was no change in the contents of the pituitary fossa in the 10 patients with hyperprolactinemia but without pituitary mass. Sixty percent of patients with pituitary mass had diminution of tumor size. Pergolide appears to be an effective medical treatment for hyperprolactinemia and pituitary tumor and offers a possible alternative to bromocriptine and surgical treatment.

Bromocriptine↗