Serum prolactin concentration and severity of depression symptoms in climacteric women

The study was conducted to elucidate the problem of prolactin (PRL) serum concentration in menopausal women and its possible relations with climacteric and depressive symptoms. The study included 202 women aged 40-65 years admitted to the Department of Gynecological Endocrinology, Poznań University of Medical Sciences, because of climacteric symptoms. The authors assessed the intensity of climacteric and depressive symptoms with the Kupperman index and the Hamilton depression scale, measured BMI index, serum PRL, FSH, LH, 17β-estradiol, total testosterone, and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) levels in all studied women. They found a correlation between serum PRL concentration and result of M. Hamilton depression scale (R = 0.21; p = 0.005) and a between serum PRL concentration and serum 17β-estradiol concentration (R = 0.21; p = 0.003). The authors concluded that serum PRL concentration is related to severity of depressive symptoms in menopausal women.