A comparative study of longitudinal and cross-sectional changes in plasma levels of prolactin and estriol during normal pregnancy.
Plasma prolactin (PRL) and total estriol levels were measured in normal pregnant women using blood samples collected from different patients at different gestational ages (cross-sectional study) and samples collected from the same patient at different gestational ages (longitudinal study). The cross-sectional study showed that PRL exhibited an ascending curve, with a tendency towards increased sample variability as pregnancy progressed. The longitudinal study showed that the slopes of the curves for the isolated cases differed according to the phase of gestation, in contrast to what was suggested by the cross-sectional study. A positive relationship between estriol and PRL was observed.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004964:Estriol / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000097:blood*; D011388:Prolactin / Q000097:blood*; D011863:Radioimmunoassay
D011388:Prolactin; D004964:Estriol