The Effects of Phenothiazines on Endocrine Function: II

Effects in Men and Post-Menopausal Women

¹ Lecturer, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, The Warneford Hospital, Oxford OX3 7JX
² Research Officer, Department of Human Anatomy, University of Oxford
³ Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal; Dept. of Physiology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
⁴ Research Psychiatrist, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, The Warneford Hospital, Oxford OX3 7JX
⁵ Consultant Psychiatrist, Littlemore Hospital, Oxford, and Clinical Lecturer, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, The Warneford Hospital, Oxford OX3 7JX
⁶ Research Fellow, Department of Medicine, Royal Postgraduate Medical School, Hammersmith Hospital, Ducane Road, London W12 0HS
⁷ Research Assistant, Department of Human Anatomy, University of Oxford
⁸ Biochemist, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, The Warneford Hospital, Oxford OX3 7JX

Plasma luteinizing hormone (LH), gonadal hormones and prolactin were studied during chronic neuroleptic treatment and following drug withdrawal in 12 schizophrenic patients.

In male subjects plasma testosterone during treatment was low or normal and rose on withdrawal of drugs, but there were no attendant changes in LH levels. In post-menopausal women plasma LH and oestrogens were within the normal range and were not affected by changes in treatment.

Plasma prolactin during treatment was elevated in female patients and within the normal range for males. Following drug withdrawal prolactin levels decreased in both male and female subjects.

The response of growth hormone (GH) and cortisol to induced hyper- and hypoglycaemia was normal in all 13 patients tested during neuroleptic treatment. The group included 8 patients with galactorrhoea and/or elevated plasma prolactin.

Increased plasma prolactin and suppressed plasma testosterone imply the possibility of selective neuroleptic effects on the hypothalamus level and on the peripheral gland respectively.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. M. N. Costa, M. S. de Lima, M. Faria, S. R. Filho, I. R. De Oliveira, and J. de Jesus Mari A naturalistic, 9-month follow-up, comparing olanzapine and conventional antipsychotics on sexual function and hormonal profile for males with schizophrenia J Psychopharmacol, March 1, 2007; 21(2): 165 - 170. [Abstract] [PDF]

				P. H. Gruen, E. J. Sachar, G. Langer, N. Altman, M. Leifer, A. Frantz, and F. S. Halpern Prolactin Responses to Neuroleptics in Normal and Schizophrenic Subjects Arch Gen Psychiatry, January 1, 1978; 35(1): 108 - 116. [Abstract] [PDF]

				H. Y. Meltzer and V. S. Fang The Effect of Neuroleptics on Serum Prolactin in Schizophrenic Patients Arch Gen Psychiatry, March 1, 1976; 33(3): 279 - 286. [Abstract] [PDF]