Beneficial effects of high daily dose bromocriptine treatment in Cushing's disease

Treatment with a high daily dose bromocriptine was evaluated in 6 Cushing's disease patients (4 females and 2 males; aged 23 to 56 years). The highest doses administered were 40 mg to patient 1, 55 mg to patient 2, 35 mg to patient 3, 25 mg to patient 4, 25 mg to patient 5, and 17.5 mg to patient 6. The former 3 cases, 2 (patients 1 and 2) of whom were previously reported and further followed up, showed clinical and biochemical improvement with the regimen. Patient 1 who obtained remission with 40 mg/day has been on remission for further 14 months with a total of 36 months. Patient 2, who had a reduction in pituitary tumor size with 35 mg daily, relapsed thereafter. The therapy, however, resolved the paradoxical responses of plasma ACTH and cortisol to arginine. Readministration of bromocriptine resulted into another clinical and biochemical improvement with 45 to 55 mg/day. Patient 3, a relapsed case after a remission with reserpine plus pituitary irradiation, showed an improvement in the 24-h urinary free cortisol excretion with 35 mg/day. Patient 4 was the only case who had a marked decrease in plasma cortisol (basal; 16.3, nadir; 1.9 micrograms/dl) after a single-dose bromocriptine test among the 5 cases tested. The patient had favorable response with 25 mg/day for 2 months but the dose was not increased after an escape. Patient 5 received the drug in 4 occasions, 7.5 to 25 mg/day, in combination with several agents, which failed to induce clinical remission. The last patient did not respond to a maximum dose of 17.5 mg/day. These observations suggest that, regardless of the result of a single-dose bromocriptine test, treatment with a high daily dose of bromocriptine, 35 mg or more, may be necessary to obtain a favorable clinical response and normal cortisol secretion.