The hormone prolactin is considered predominantly a female sex hormone. Its biological role can not be overemphasized: prolactin has a greater or lesser effect on the course of about 300 different processes in the female body.
The hormone prolactin and its norm in women
What is the norm of prolactin in women? There is no clear answer to this question, because different laboratory centers, because of different research methods, different reagents establish their reference (normative) values. In addition, different laboratories use different units of prolactin.
Approximate indicators of the normal level of prolactin in women can still be determined. Thus, the lower limit of the level of prolactin in a healthy and non-pregnant woman should not exceed the norm of 4.0-4.5 ng / ml. Meanwhile, as the upper limit should be within 23.0-33.0 ng / ml.
During the menstrual cycle, the level of prolactin in a woman fluctuates, respectively, and the hormone levels in different phases of the cycle are different. Doctors recommend doing a blood test at the beginning of the menstrual cycle (during the follicular phase). But in case if for some reason at the beginning of the menstrual cycle the study was not carried out, each laboratory establishes its norms for subsequent phases.
Prolactin is a very "sensitive" hormone, its level can change at the slightest stress, overheating, after sexual intercourse, against the background of taking certain medications, and thus distort the results of the study. For this reason, for a more reliable comparison of the obtained indicator of the level of the hormone prolactin and its norm in a woman of reproductive age, a two-fold analysis is recommended.
Regulatory abnormalities of prolactin: possible causes
The condition, when the level of prolactin in a woman falls below the norm, usually does not require treatment. Prolactin can decrease dramatically as a result of taking certain medications, in particular, drugs, the purpose of which was initially to reduce the production of the same hormone.
An additional study to confirm / exclude pituitary diseases is necessary only if the level of other pituitary hormones drops below the normal level with prolactin.
Exceeding the norm concentration of the hormone prolactin in a woman can be a consequence of natural processes in her body
- (pregnancy, the period of breastfeeding), and may indicate the presence of serious pathologies, such as:
- benign tumor of the pituitary gland (prolactinoma);
- dysfunction of the thyroid gland (hypothyroidism);
- polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS);
- serious liver and / or kidney disease;
- tumors of the hypothalamus.
Very often a woman does not even guess that the level of prolactin in her body is increased, until the time when she will not face the problem of conception of the child. High prolactin is the cause of infertility in every fifth woman who has heard such a diagnosis.
The normal level of prolactin in pregnant women
The level of prolactin in pregnant women is always elevated, this is the norm. The concentration of the hormone in the blood rises already on the 8th week of pregnancy and reaches a maximum by the third trimester. Concentration of prolactin gradually decreases and returns to its initial values only after the end of breastfeeding.
According to established norms, the level of prolactin in pregnant women should be within 34-386 ng / ml (according to some laboratories 23.5-470 ng / mg), gradually increasing during the period of pregnancy from the lower border to the upper one. But some modern doctors argue that there is no point in establishing any norms of prolactin in pregnant women.
The hormonal background of each pregnant woman is so individual that various hormonal fluctuations, including prolactin oscillations, often do not fit into any norms, however, this fact is not a pathology.