Correlation of Hyperprolactinemia with Altered Plasma Insulin and Glucagon: Similarity to Effects of Late Human Pregnancy*

Abstract

Plasma glucose and insulin concentrations were measured during oral glucose and iv tolbutamide tolerance tests in nine women with hyperprolactinemia and the amenorrheagalactorrhea syndrome (AGS). Glucose tolerance curves, basal insulin levels, and postchallenge plasma insulin responses were significantly higher in AGS women compared to those in an age- and weight-matched control group. Fasting plasma glucagon concentrations were unaltered in AGS, but suppression of the hormone after oral glucose was greater and more prolonged relative to the control response. Oral glucose tolerance tests were performed on nine normal women during late pregnancy who had physiological hyperprolactinemia comparable to that in the AGS group. Glucose tolerance curves, exaggerated plasma insulin responses, and glucagon suppression resembled those observed in the AGS women. These results suggest that elevated plasma PRL concentrations may contribute to the development of hyperinsulinemia and accentuated glucagon suppression in response to glucose that is characteristic of late human pregnancy.