HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by SOBRINHO, L G Articles by SANTOS, M A Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by SOBRINHO, L G Articles by SANTOS, M A

Hyperprolactinemia in Women With Paternal Deprivation During Childhood

From the Endocrine Clinic and Endocrine Laboratory, Instituto Português de Oncologia, Lisboa, Portugal

Abstract

It was reported that most females with prolactinoma, idiopathic hyperprolactinemia, or euprolactinemic galactorrhea were reared either without their father or with an alcoholic, violent father. To gain further insight into this association, a group of sisters of patients with prolactinoma (generally exposed to the same environment as the patients') and a control group were studied. Women with paternal deprivation during childhood differed from the women who had normal childhoods in that they had: 1) higher mean serum prolactin concentration (14.7 versus 9.4 ng/mL; P<.001); 2) higher incidence of hyperprolactinemia (12 of 50 versus three of 59; P<.005); and 3) higher incidence of galactorrhea (14 of 50 versus seven of 59: P<.03). These observations support the contention that paternal deprivation during childhood is associated, in a minority of women, with a predisposition to develop hyperprolactinemia and presumably, prolactinoma later in life. A hypothesis on the possible mechanisms of a causal relationship is presented.