Hyperprolactinemia in Sjogren's syndrome: a patient subset or a disease manifestation?

Objective. - To investigate the prevalence of hyperprolactinemia in patients with primary Sjogren's syndrome (SS), its clinical significance and its implication to our understanding of the disease pathogenesis. Materials and methods. - Forty-nine patients with primary SS (44 females and five males) age range 37-66 years were included in this study. All patients underwent clinical assessment for disease manifestations in addition to laboratory assessment for serum prolactin, sex hormones and immunological profile. Fifty healthy subjects (44 females and six males) of matched age were studied as control group. Results. - The mean prolactin serum level was significantly higher in SS patients compared to the control group (P < 0.01). This significant difference was persistent after subgrouping the patients and the controls based on their menstrual history. Hyperprolactinemia (>20 ng/ml) was prevalent in 16.3% of SS patients. There was no correlation between serum prolactin levels and hormonal status, autoantibodies as well as systemic manifestations of the disease. Conclusion. - Patients with primary SS have moderately increased levels of prolactin. Hyperprolactinemia reflects disease pathology rather than being present in a subset of patients. The presence of elevated prolactin levels was not associated with hormonal status, clinical or immunological manifestations of primary SS. (C) 2003 Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.