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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1971 Aug;68(8):1902–1906. doi: 10.1073/pnas.68.8.1902

A Radioimmunoassay for Human Prolactin

P Hwang 1, H Guyda 1, H Friesen 1
PMCID: PMC389318  PMID: 5288775

Abstract

A radioimmunoassay for primate prolactin has been developed, with [131I] monkey prolactin, and antibodies to monkey or human prolactin. The assay is specific for prolactin; human growth hormone, and human and monkey placental lactogen show no significant crossreaction. The assay is sensitive enough to measure prolactin concentrations in the sera of most humans studied. The concentration of prolactin in the serum of normal children and adults of either sex was usually below 30 ng/ml, while very high concentrations (up to 500 ng/ml) were observed in newborn infants. The serum prolactin concentration during the menstrual cycle showed no definite increase in the luteal phase. Of 24 patients with galactorrhea, 20 had prolactin concentrations above 30 ng/ml; the highest value observed was 1500 ng/ml. In contrast, 12 of 13 patients with acromegaly had concentrations within the normal range. During pregnancy, the concentration of prolactin in serum rose progressively from an average of 30 ng/ml in the first trimester to 200 ng/ml at term. Postpartum, prolactin concentrations fell to normal levels after 1-2 weeks. Suckling was a potent stimulus to prolactin release, increasing its concentration in serum some 10- to 20-fold.

Keywords: affinity chromatography, galactorrhea, amniotic fluid, menstrual cycle, growth hormone

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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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