Am J Psychiatry 1981; 138:1154-1160
Copyright © 1981 by American Psychiatric Association
Prolactin in psychiatry
JRU de la Fuente and AH Rosenbaum
Prolactin is a protein hormone synthesized and secreted by the anterior
pituitary gland. Because the monoamines dopamine and serotonin are
important in the control of its secretion, prolactin has been the subject
of much psychoendocrine research in recent years. The authors review some
of the implications of the main findings of such research as they relate to
schizophrenia, affective disorders, premenstrual syndrome, and alcoholism
and discuss its possible usefulness to clinicians. As a research strategy,
prolactin studies have a good potential for identifying specific
neurotransmitters involved in discrete psychopathologic entities.
