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Hyperprolactinaemia (BrE) or hyperprolactinemia (AmE) is the presence of abnormally-high levels of prolactin in the blood. Normal levels are less than 580 mIU/L for women, and less than 450 mIU/L for men.
Prolactin is a peptide hormone produced by the anterior pituitary gland primarily associated with lactation and plays important breast development during pregnancy. Hyperprolactinaemia may cause production and spontaneous flow of breast milk and disruptions in the normal menstrual period in women and hypogonadism, infertility and erectile dysfunction in men.
Hyperprolactinaemia can be a part of normal body changes during pregnancy and breastfeeding. It can also be caused by diseases affecting the hypothalamus and pituitary gland. It can also be caused disruption of the normal regulation of prolactin levels by drugs, medicinal herbs and heavy metals. Hyperprolactinaemia may also be the result of disease of other organs such as the kidneys, ovaries and thyroid.[1]
Hyperprolactinaemia may be caused by either disinhibition (e.g., compression of the pituitary stalk or reduced dopamine levels) or excess production from a prolactinoma (a pituitary gland adenoma tumour). A blood serum prolactin level of 1000–5000 mIU/L could be from either mechanism, but >5000 mIU/L is likely due to the activity of an adenoma with macroadenomas (large tumours over 10 mm diameter) whose levels of prolactin are up to 100,000 mIU/L. Hyperprolactinemia inhibits gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) by increasing the release of dopamine from the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus (dopamine inhibits GnRH secretion), thus inhibiting gonadal steroidogenesis, which is the cause of many of the symptoms described below.
There is a suspicion that Minoxidil, a potassium channel agonist, may be related to the development of this disease. A two-year test with Minoxidil, under normal dosing parameters, was carried out on rats, which caused pheochromocytomas in both males and females, and preputial gland adenomas in males[2].
Physiological causes (i.e., as result of normal body functioning): pregnancy, breastfeeding, stress, sleep.
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