This Article Full Text (PDF) Submit a related Letter to the Editor Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Copyright Permission Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by MIYABO, S. Articles by ASATO, T. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by MIYABO, S. Articles by ASATO, T.

Prolactin and Growth Hormone Responses to Psychological Stress in Normal and Neurotic Subjects

Department of Medicine, Kanazawa University Kanazawa, Japan

In order to study the response of plasma prolactin (PRL) to acute psychological stress and to compare it with that of growth hormone (GH), the mirror drawing test (MDT) was performed in 20 normal controls (11 male, 9 female) and 22 neurotic patients (12 male, 10 female). Plasma PRL and GH were measured serially before, during and after the test. In controls, the test caused no significant change in plasma levels of either hormone. In neurotic males, the response of PRL to the test was not consistent, whereas, in neurotic females, plasma PRL level rose significantly following the test. Increase of GH, on the other hand, was apparent in the neurotics of both sexes. The correlation between the responses of the two hormones in the neurotics was low and non-significant. The results indicate that although the psychoendocrine coping mechanism in the neurotics works less effectively for both PRL and GH, the two hormones may have different psychological correlates.

Received September 8, 1976.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S. W. Woods, D. S. Charney, W. K. Goodman, and G. R. Heninger Carbon Dioxide--Induced Anxiety: Behavioral, Physiologic, and Biochemical Effects of Carbon Dioxide in Patients With Panic Disorders and Healthy Subjects Arch Gen Psychiatry, January 1, 1988; 45(1): 43 - 52. [Abstract] [PDF]

				S. W. Woods, D. S. Charney, C. A. McPherson, A. H. Gradman, and G. R. Heninger Situational Panic Attacks: Behavioral, Physiologic, and Biochemical Characterization Arch Gen Psychiatry, April 1, 1987; 44(4): 365 - 375. [Abstract] [PDF]