Age-related change of prolactin and prostatic hyperplasia in aging males / 中华泌尿外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate age-related changes of serum prolactin(PRL) and testosterone (T) in aging males and to study the correlation between PRL and prostatic hyperplasia. Methods 84 aged males were divided into four groups, the fifties, the sixties, the seventies and the eigh- ties . Serum PRL and T were measured using radioimmunoassay. The volume of prostate was evaluated by ultrasound in 38 and it's correlation with PRL studied. Results Serum T level of the 4 age groups from fifties to eighties was (25.92?2.54),(21.00?1.92),(18.37?2.49) and (14.75? 2.38 ) nmol/L respectively and PRL concentration (1.11?0.16), (0.96?0.20), (0.99?0.18) and (0.91?0.29) nmol/L. Analysis of variance showed that serum T concentration significantly decreased with age ( F =3.44, P 0.05). No association between PRL and volume of prostate has been observed. Conclusions PRL play a physiological role in the development and growth of prostate via androgen. But such effect of androgeno-dependence on prostate is greatly diminished because of the decrease of androgen hormone with age especially in the aged.