The diurnal variations of serum prolactin levels before and during pregnancy in normal and hyperprolactinemic patients.
The pattern of 24-hour secretion of prolactin was evaluated in three normal pregnant subjects at the tenth, twenty-fourth, and thirty-sixth gestational week. A similar study was performed in three hyperprolactinemic subjects throughout the course of their gestations. The findings confirm the progressive rise in serum concentrations of prolactin throughout pregnancy in normal subjects, with a tendency to blunting of the ratio of the nighttime mean to the daytime mean ( meanss / meansa ) as pregnancy progresses. One hyperprolactinemic subject (nontumoral) followed this pattern but demonstrated blunting initially and throughout pregnancy. The other two hyperprolactinemic subjects (one tumoral and one nontumoral) demonstrated an unexpected response in that they remained unresponsive to the increasing concentrations of estradiol throughout pregnancy.
D000328:Adult; D000568:Amenorrhea / Q000378:metabolism; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D005260:Female; D005498:Follicular Phase; D006801:Humans; D008183:Luteal Phase; D011247:Pregnancy; D011388:Prolactin / Q000097:blood*
D011388:Prolactin