Macroprolactin; A Frequent Cause of Misdiagnosed Hyperprolactinemiain Clinical Practice

Introduction: macroprolactin is a significant cause of misdiagnosis, unnecessary investigation, and inappropriate treatment in patients with hyperprolactinemia. itsfrequency has not been clearly established due to technical difficulties in identifyingit. most laboratories and clinicians are unaware of macroprolactin interferences inprolactin assays.materials and methods: a comprehensive literature search was conducted on the websites of the national library of medicine (http://www.ncbl.nlm.nih.gov) andpubmed central, the us national library of medicine’s digital archive of lifesciences literature (http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/). the data were also looked for in relevant books and journal.results: macroprolactin is a non-bioactive prolactin isoform usually composed of aprolactin monomer and an igg molecule having a prolonged clearance rate similar to that of immunoglobulins. this iso form is clinically non-reactive but it interferes withimmunological assays used for the detection of prolactin.conclusion: there is a need to understand and explore the recent progress in the diagnosis and pathophysiology of macroprolactinemia for improving patient care.