title: Serum prolactin concentrations as risk factor of metabolic syndrome or type 2 diabetes?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To investigate potential associations of serum prolactin concentration (PRL) with metabolic syndrome (MetS) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), previously observed in small and selected study samples, in a large population-based cohort.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data from 3,993 individuals (2,027 women) aged 20-79 years from the population-based Study of Health of Pomerania (SHIP) were used to analyse cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of PRL with MetS and T2DM risk in age- and multivariable-adjusted Poisson regression models. PRL were log-transformed and modelled as continuous (per standard deviation (SD) increase) and categorical predictor (sex-specific quartiles) variable, separately for men and woman.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Cross-sectional analyses showed an inverse association between low PRL concentrations and prevalent T2DM risk in men and women after multivariable-adjustment (men: Q1 vs. Q4: relative risk (RR), 1.55; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.13 - 2.14; women: Q1 vs. Q4: RR, 1.70; 95% CI, 1.10 - 2.62). Likewise, higher PRL concentrations were associated with significantly lower T2DM risk (RR per SD increase in log-PRL: 0.83; 95% CI, 0.72 - 0.95 in men, and 0.84; 95% CI, 0.71 - 0.98 in women, respectively). An inverse association between PRL and MetS risk was not retained after multivariable adjustment. Longitudinal analyses yielded no association of PRL with incident MetS or T2DM.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present study is the first large population-based study reporting a cross-sectional inverse association between PRL and prevalent T2DM in both genders. But the absent longitudinal associations do not support a causal role of PRL as a risk factor of incident MetS or T2DM.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, University Medicine Greifswald, Ferdinand-Sauerbruch-Straße, Greifswald, 17475, Germany. robin.haring@uni-greifswald.de.
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Balbach
authors.forename: Henri
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wallaschofski
authors.forename: Henry
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Völzke
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nauck
authors.forename: Marcus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dörr
authors.forename: Robin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Haring