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British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology logoLink to British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
. 1983 Nov;16(5):471–475. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2125.1983.tb02202.x

Prolactin secretion in man: a useful tool to evaluate the activity of drugs on central 5-hydroxytryptaminergic neurones. Studies with fenfluramine.

A Quattrone, G Tedeschi, U Aguglia, F Scopacasa, G F Direnzo, L Annunziato
PMCID: PMC1428066  PMID: 6639832

Abstract

Acute oral administration of various doses of fenfluramine, a 5-HT releaser, induced a dose-related increase of PRL secretion in nine healthy volunteers. Fenfluramine reached the maximum effect on PRL secretion at 4 h after its administration. This effect was already significant at 2 h and lasted till 8 h. Metergoline, a 5-HT receptor blocker, when administered alone, decreased serum PRL levels in six healthy subjects. The pretreatment with this drug significantly antagonized the PRL-releasing action of fenfluramine (60 mg) suggesting that the effect of fenfluramine on PRL release may be mediated through a 5-HT mechanism in the brain. These findings suggest the possibility that serum PRL levels in humans may represent a useful tool to evaluate, in vivo, the activity of drugs possessing putative 5-hydroxytryptaminergic properties.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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