see also:

• hormones

• prolactin is a peptide hormone secreted from the pitiutary gland in response to eating, mating, oestrogen treatment, ovulation and nursing
• confirmed in humans in 1970
• crucial for milk production during pregnancy and lactation
  • together with oestrogen, progesterone, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), and hormones from the placenta, prolactin stimulates the proliferation of breast alveolar elements during pregnancy
  • after childbirth, the rapid decline in oestrogen and progesterone levels allows lactation to begin
• primarily regulated by hypothalamic inhibition rather than by negative feedback from peripheral hormones

• normal physiological changes during pregnancy and breastfeeding
• stress
• seizures
• chest wall injury
• pituitary microadenoma
• hypothalamic-pituitary stalk damage
• reduced prolactin clearance - liver and renal disease
• polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
• medications esp. anti-psychotics

• decreased libido
• sexual dysfunction
• erectile dysfunction/impotence
• infertility
• gynecomastia
• long-term hyperprolactinaemia can lead to detrimental changes in bone metabolism as a result of hypoestrogenism and hypoandrogenism