Author(s): Elzobir NFA, Hassan EE, Bakhit SM, M A Shrif NE
Objective: hyperprolactinemia is the most prevalent endocrine disorder in hypothalamic- pituitary axis especially among reproductive age women affecting about one-third of infertile women, on one hand the prevalence of hyperprolactinemia in hypothyroidism patients is considerable, hyperprolactinemia cause reproduction disorders (infertility), early diagnosis and treatment of these disease are important, on other hand Sudan studies focusing on serum level of prolactin in thyroid disorder are few, hence the present study has been undertaken to assess prolactin level in hypothyroidism, the objective of the present study is to assess the serum levels of prolactin in Sudanese females patients with primary hypothyroidism in comparison with healthy controls and to find out the incidence of hyperprolactinemia in hypothyroidism Sudanese patients and to evaluate the association between prolactin level and age of females.
Material and Methods: A clinical-based descriptive, analytical study conducted during period from January to October 2013. Forty patients with primary hypothyroidism (study group) and fifty healthy women non hypothyroidism (control group). All participants were selected randomly from Tuga Specialized Hospital and Asia Hospital in Khartoum state. The test and control group, were matched in term of age. The serum level of prolactin hormone was measured by using (ELIZA) commercial reagent kits from diagnostic reagent United Kingdom (OMEGA) diagnostic, serum level of FT3, FT4 and TSH hormone was measured by using Electrochemiluminesent (ECL) immunoassay.
Results: In this study the result s shows the mean level of FT3 and FT4 in study group was significantly decreased than control group, P value < 0.001 and The mean level of prolactin and TSH in test group was significantly increased than control group ,P value < 0.001. Moreover, A thirty of these patients(75 %) had hyperprolactinemia and ten(25%) are normal prolactin level , the mean age of hypothyroidism patients was 33.48±8.48, while it was 34.20±5.90 non hypothyroidism, there were no correlation between prolactin level and age in study group(r=0.002, P = 0.782).
Conclusion: The study showed that the incidence of hyper -prolactinemia in primary hypothyroidism is notable and this disorder is more common in female with primary hypothyroidism than normal individuals.