[Macroprolactin in subjects with hyperprolactinaemia: clinical observations and relations between free PRL and PRL complexed with IgG].

Unlabelled: In some patients with hyperprolactinaemia a large portion of circulating prolactin is bound to authologous gammaglobulin and therefore it is called macroprolactin or Big-Big-Prolactin (BB-PRL).

The Aim: of the study was to select patients with predominance of macroprolactin and to learn more about the natural course of this disorder, in particular about the possible dependence of the presence of clinical features from the amount of circulating "free" PRL level, and also to search whether the quantitative proportions of both forms of PRL are stable or they change parallel to changes of the total serum PRL level.

Material And Methods: We identified 58 patients with hyperprolactinaemia, in whom BB-PRL consisted>or=60% of the total PRL concentration.