Prolactin levels were determined in plasma samples obtained before and
after administration of apomorphine or L-dopa to otherwise unmedicated
chronic schizophrenic patients or control subjects. Basal prolactin levels
did not differ in these two groups. Suppression of prolactin levels after
each dopamine agonist was highly significant. Suppression in schizophrenics
was slightly less than in controls following apomorphine and slightly
greater following L-dopa. The authors discuss the implications of these
findings as well as the limitations of the prolactin regulatory system as
an index of dopamine agonist sensitivity.Abstract Teaser