This is based on: (1) reports that elevated prolactin levels may normalize in some women after menopause, (2) the fact that the association between prolactin levels and breast cancer is inconsistent in postmenopausal women, (3) the lack of clinical evidence that normalization of prolactin levels in postmenopausal women improves bone mineral density or reduces the risk of fracture, and (4) the fact that, concerning the metabolic syndrome, no data are available on metabolic parameters after suspension of treatment with dopamine agonists.
The dopamine agonists bromocriptine and cabergoline significantly improve abnormalities in glucose profile and reduce the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in a remarkable proportion of patients, regardless of whether body weight and PRL status may change.
Although there were significant differences in the prevalence of hyperprolactinemia and metabolic syndrome according to the antipsychotic received, multivariant regression analysis did not show a correlation between sexual dysfunction and prolactin, sexual hormones, type of antipsychotic received, psychotic psychopathology or metabolic syndrome.
Recently, evidence has accumulated that obesity, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic syndrome are associated with reduced levels of serum prolactin (PRL) in humans and rodents, raising the question of whether low PRL levels contribute to metabolic dysfunction.
We focused on extrapyramidal symptoms; on overweight and presence of components of the metabolic syndrome; and on elevated plasma prolactin and bone turnover parameters.