title: [The effects of l-dopa administration on the prolactin levels in short-stature subjects].
abstract: In this study, on the basis of the inhibiting action of l-dopa administration on prolactin (PRL) secretion, we evaluated in a number of short children the levels of PRL during the provocative stimuli test with l-dopa in order to identify an index able to give reliability to the test and to investigate whether some differences may exist among the subjects showing a different response in growth hormone (GH) secretion to l-dopa. We examined 76 subjects (44 boys and 32 girls) with chronological age from 4.5-15.17 years. The subjects, on the basis of the GH peaks during two provocative stimuli tests [l-dopa and insulin-induced hypoglycemia (IIH)], were subdivided into 3 groups: group 1 (n = 24) with both deficient responses (peak less than 10 ng/ml); group 2 (n = 28) with discordant responses and further subdivided into group 2a (n = 14) with normal responses to IIH and 2b (n = 14) with a normal response to l-dopa; group 3 (n = 24) with both normal responses. PRL levels peaked between times -20' (58 cases) and +20' (2 cases) whereas nadir occurred between +80' (4 cases) and +120 (48 cases) without any significant difference (p = ns) among the groups. PRL levels significantly decreased in all groups, also in those with a deficient response to l-dopa (1 and 2a); furthermore no significant correlation between PRL and GH levels was demonstrated. In conclusion, this study showed the importance of PRL evaluation during l-dopa test in order to give reliability to the test and did not demonstrate any difference in PRL levels among the examined groups of short children.
authors.affiliation: Cattedra di Pediatria Preventiva e Sociale, Università di Pisa.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Saggese
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cesaretti
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Carlotti
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cioni
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bracaloni
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001827:Body Height / Q000187:drug effects*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D013006:Growth Hormone / Q000097:blood / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D007003:Hypoglycemia / Q000097:blood / Q000139:chemically induced; D007328:Insulin; D007980:Levodopa / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D008297:Male; D011388:Prolactin / Q000097:blood / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D007328:Insulin; D007980:Levodopa; D011388:Prolactin; D013006:Growth Hormone
vernacular_title: Effetti della somministrazione di l-dopa sui livelli di prolattina in soggetti di bassa statura.