Prolactin concentration in various stages of endometriosis in infertile women

Parvaneh Mirabi; Seyede Hanie Alamolhoda; Masoumeh Golsorkhtabaramiri; Mahshid Namdari; Sedighe Esmaeilzadeh

doi:10.5935/1518-0557.20190020

Reproductive Endocrinology Neuroendocrinology

Prolactin concentration in various stages of endometriosis in infertile women

Mirabi P, Alamolhoda SH, Golsorkhtabaramiri M, Namdari M, Esmaeilzadeh S

Published August 22, 2019 JBRA Assisted Reproduction, 23(3), 225-229

DOI 10.5935/1518-0557.20190020 PMID 30969738 PMC PMC6724390

RRM Academy Synopsis

Endometriosis Severity Linked to Higher Prolactin Levels

Women with worse endometriosis had higher prolactin than infertile women without the disease. This retrospective cohort had 114 infertile women with endometriosis and 101 without it, in Iran. Prolactin told worse disease from milder disease with modest accuracy.

Key Findings

Mean prolactin levels were numerically highest in women with stage III or IV endometriosis, lower in stage I or II endometriosis, and lowest in women without endometriosis.
Prolactin was significantly higher in women who had endometriosis than in women who did not (p=0.003); the stage III/IV group differed from controls (p=0.009), while stage I/II did not (p=0.71).
Prolactin levels differed significantly across all three groups by one statistical test (p=0.018), but the difference between stage I/II and stage III/IV disease alone was not significant (p=0.58).
Prolactin showed modest ability to distinguish endometriosis stages III/IV from stages I/II, with an AUC of 0.65 (95% CI 0.55 to 0.76).
Prolactin showed modest ability to distinguish women with endometriosis from women without it, with an AUC of 0.67 (95% CI 0.60 to 0.74).

Interpretation

This retrospective cohort study examined infertile women with and without endometriosis in Iran. Prolactin was higher in women with more severe disease. Two AUC scores, 0.65 and 0.67, show prolactin has modest power to tell disease stages apart and to tell endometriosis from its absence. The findings support larger studies of prolactin as a marker of endometriosis severity.

RRM Context

NaProTechnology's infertility workup checks hormone levels, including prolactin, to find why pregnancy has not happened. Excision surgery treats the disease itself, no matter a woman's prolactin level.

Our editorial summary of this paper, not the article's abstract.

Abstract

Objective

The relation between excessive prolactin and endometriosis-related infertility is debatable. Anovulation or defective luteal phase occurs frequently due to hyperprolactinemia in subfertile women. In this investigation, we evaluated the association between serum prolactin levels and the severity of endometriosis.

Methods

This retrospective cohort study carried out at the Babol Infertility Research Center looked into the baseline serum prolactin levels of 114 infertile women with endometriosis and compared them to the levels seen in 101 infertile women without endometriosis (controls). Statistical analysis included independent t-test, chi-square, Welch test and ROC curve analysis.

Results

Infertile women with endometriosis had significantly higher serum prolactin levels than infertile women without endometriosis (p=0.003). A significant difference was detected between controls and individuals with endometriosis stages III/IV (p-value=0.009). Prolactin was found to have diagnostic value to detect endometriosis stages III/IV vs. stages I/II in AUC=0.65, 95% CI (0.55, 0.76). Prolactin values with a cut off set at 20.08 ng/mL had a sensitivity of 0.74 and specificity of 0.54 in detecting disease stages III/IV vs. I/II. The prognostic capability of prolactin in detecting endometriosis in cases vs. controls by ROC curve analysis had an AUC=+0.67, 95% CI (0.60, 0.74). Prolactin values with a cut off set at 17.5 ng/mL had a sensitivity of 0.64 and specificity of 0.63 in segregating subjects with and without endometriosis.

Conclusion

Higher prolactin levels were observed in infertile women with more severe endometriosis when compared to infertile women without endometriosis. Prolactin levels act as a probable prognostic biomarker to detect endometriosis stages III/IV vs. I/II and segregate infertile women with endometriosis from subjects without endometriosis.

Read the guide

Endometriosis Explained: Diagnosis, Excision Surgery, and the RRM Approach

Topics

Reproductive Endocrinology › Neuroendocrinology › Prolactin · Diagnostics › Hormone Testing › Serum Panels · Endometriosis › Diagnosis › Biomarkers

Parvaneh Mirabi, Seyede Hanie Alamolhoda, Masoumeh Golsorkhtabaramiri, Mahshid Namdari, Sedighe Esmaeilzadeh

P Mirabi, S Alamolhoda, M Golsorkhtabaramiri, M Namdari, S Esmaeilzadeh

PMID 30969738 30969738 DOI 10.5935/1518-0557.20190020 10.5935/1518-0557.20190020 Mirabi et al. 2019, Mirabi 2019

Keywords

Prolactin

Prolactin concentration in various stages of endometriosis in infertile women

Endometriosis Severity Linked to Higher Prolactin Levels

Key Findings

Interpretation

RRM Context

Abstract

Read the guide

Topics

By this author

The effect of myo-inositol supplementation on the prevention of gestational diabetes in overweight pregnant women: a randomized, double-blind, controlled trial

Related research

The role of prolactin- and endometriosis-associated infertility

A study of plasma progesterone, oestradiol-17beta, prolactin and LH levels, and of the luteal phase appearance of the ovaries in patients with endometriosis and infertility

Luteal function in infertile patients with endometriosis

The human menstrual cycle: plasma concentrations of prolactin, LH, FSH, oestradiol and progesterone in conceiving and non-conceiving women

Keywords