Serum prolactin level in multiple sclerosis patients

Multiple sclerosis (ms) is the most common demyelinating disease. an autoimmune basis has beenconfirmed for pathogenesis of ms. prolactin (prl) has roles in these mechanisms. its serum levels change in ms accordingto some reports. the purpose of this study was to survey these changes in ms patients.methods: sixty ms patients were included in this cross-sectional study. the same number of controls matched for sexand age were studied. pregnant, lactating women, consumers of specific medications and patients with underlying diseaseswere excluded from our study. ria was used for determination of serum levels of prl.results: in this study, prl level in male patients was 14.23 ± 11.47 ng/ml compared to controls with mean level of7.21 ± 4.12 ng/ml (p value <0.001). mean prl level in female patients was 20.18 ± 11.04 ng/ml whereas controls had amean level of 14.45 ± 6.93 ng/ml (one-tailed p value <0.05). so there were significant differences in serum prl levelbetween case and control groups in both men and womenconclusions: prl has a positive relation with ms in both sexes. further studies for determination of causality relationand drug effect in endocrine system on ms pathogenesis are suggested.