title: Serum prolactin concentrations in patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.
abstract: Experimental evidence suggests that prolactin is an important immunomodulator hormone. Because this endocrine-immune link may represent a potential new therapeutic avenue, we considered its application in states of immunodeficiency. We hypothesized that serum prolactin concentrations might be abnormal in AIDS. To test this hypothesis, we measured serum prolactin concentrations in blood samples obtained from patients who had either AIDS (n = 15) or AIDS-related complex (n = 12), asymptomatic subjects who were antibody-positive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (n = 10), HIV antibody-negative homosexual subjects (n = 10), and heterosexual HIV antibody-negative controls (n = 21). We found no difference in the serum prolactin concentrations between the five subject groups. We conclude that circulating prolactin values are not altered by HIV infection; however, the possibility that prolactin administration may modulate immune function remains to be tested.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesia, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston 02114.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chernow
authors.forename: R T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Schooley
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dracup
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Napolitano
authors.forename: G G
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Stanford
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Klibanski
mesh_terms: D000386:AIDS-Related Complex / Q000097:blood; D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000097:blood*; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D011388:Prolactin / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D011388:Prolactin