الفهرس 
physiology of prolactineOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Prolactin is secreted by the anterior pituitary under permanent inhibitory control from the hypothalamus. The most important hypothalamic inhibiting factor is almost certainly dopamine itself, and the principal physiologic effect of :PEL in human females is the initiation of lactation. Hyperprolactinemia may occur in association with pituitary tumors although they are often small and may present difficulties in diagnosis. other causes of hyperprolactinemia include hypothalamic disease, or disruption of the hypothalamic-hypophyseal stalk, primary hypothyroidism and the taking of certain drugs which act either by blocking dopamine receptors at the pituitary (e.g phenothiazines, benzamides ,metoclopram and sulpiride), or by depleting the stores of dopamine (e.g. reserpine and methyl dopa) or through non dopamine mechanisms at the pituitary level (e.g. estrogens and thyroid releasing hormone). A patient with hyperprolactinemia may present a broad spectrum of symptoms.