Long-term proton pump inhibitors therapy and prevalence of hyperprolactinaemia: A cross-sectional study in outpatient gastroenterology clinics.

Objectives: To evaluate serum prolactin and macroprolactin levels in patients on long-term proton pump inhibitors therapy.

Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted from January 2018 to November 2019 after approval from the ethics review committee of the Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South University, Abbottabad, Pakistan. The study included patients from two gastroenterology outpatient clinics in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province using proton pump inhibitors for ≥3 months either alone or in combination with either histamine receptor antagonists or prokinetics. Blood samples were collected from each patient for hormonal screening. Data was analysed using SPSS 25.

Results: Of the 166 patients, 101(60.8%) were females and 65(39.2%) were males. The overall mean age was 42.5±14.2 years, and the median serum prolactin level was 23.2ng/ml (interquartile range: 14.0-38.0ng/ml). There were 96(58%) patients with normoprolactinaemia and 70(42%) with hypreprolactinaemia. There were 19(11.4%) patients using combination therapy, while the rest were on proton pump inhibitors monotherapy. There was a significant increase in serum prolactin level with combination therapy compared to monotherapy (p=0.001). Patients having treatment duration 11-20 months (p=0.006) and >40 months (p=0.001) were at high risk of developing hyperprolactinaemia.

Conclusions: Long-term use of proton pump inhibitors could increase serum prolactin levels, and appropriate evaluation is essential for clinical management.