Plasma Leptin Levels Before and After Bromocriptine Treatment in Female Patients with Prolactinoma

Both It is known that increased body weight is associated with prolactinomas. However, effects of bromocriptine treatment on plasma leptin levels is not clear yet. The aim of this is to evaluate leptin levels before and after bromocripine treatment in patients with prolactinoma. Twenty female patients with prolactinoma and twenty normoprolactinemic, ageand body mass index (BMI)matched healthy females were involved in the study. Plasma leptin levels were measured before and eight weeks after bromocriptine treatment in patients with prolactinoma. Bromocriptine treatment resulted in a significant decrease in prolactin levels (from 119.3±45.7 to 55.4±25.2, p=0.001), and a significant increase in leptin levels (from 28.3±15.8 to 32.2±18.3 ng/ml, p<0.001). There was a significant decrease in BMI (from 27.0±5.8 to 25.8±1.5 kg/m2, p<0.001) and waist/hip ratio (from 0.91±0.16 to 0.88±1.14, p<0.001) with treatment. There was a moderate negative correlation between the change in leptin levels and the change in BMI (r= -0.50, p<0.03) in prolactinoma patients , but, there was no significant correlation between change in leptin levels and either the change in prolactin levels (r= -0.13, p<0.6) or the change in W/H ratio (r= -0.38, p=0.1). Our data suggest that hyperprolactinemia may be regarded as a reversible cause of weight gain and leptin has an important role in the weight loss observed during treatment with bromocriptine.