macroprolactinemia

Epidemiology

• 15-46% of hyperprolactinemia

Pathology

• hyperprolactinemia with a predominance of HMW prolactin forms (big-big prolactin, MW > 150 kDa), likely representing prolactins monomer complexed with anti-prolactin autoantibodies
• antibody-bound prolactin is big enough to be confined to vascular spaces & is not filtered through the renal glomeruli
• thus macroprolactinemia develops due to the delayed clearance of prolactin rather than increased production
• considered a benign condition

Clinical manifestations

• clinical symptoms are less frequent in than in other forms of hyperprolactinemia

Laboratory

• gel filtration chromatography (gold standard)
• macroprolactin in serum

Management

• observation

More general terms

• hyperprolactinemia