Enhanced prolactin levels in opium smokers

In Iran, opium is smoked for pleasure or as a medication by some people. It is a complex mixture of 40 different alkaloids, including morphine and codeine along with many impurities. Although it is well established that opioids or tobacco affect many physiological functions in humans, to our knowledge there has been no specific study looking at these effects in opium smokers. To assess that, we investigated the circulating levels of prolactin, TSH, LH, FSH and testosterone in male opium smokers who also smoke cigarettes (n=23, aged 28.4+/- 4.1 years), and comparing this with the corresponding values for nicotine abusers (n=12, 15-25 cigarettes/day) or a healthy control group (n=20) of the same age. Our results showed that 86.96% of the opium-dependent and 41.67 % of the nicotine-dependent group displayed high prolactin values (p<0.002). In addition, there was a positive correlation between the dose of opium and the plasma prolactin level of opium dependents (p=0.748, p<0.001). Low FSH was detected in 43.48% of the opium smokers and 50% of the cigarette smokers (p<0.001) with normal LH and testosterone levels. TSH of the opium smokers was also lower than that of the other two groups (p<0.002). In conclusion, the present data indicate that chronic opium and cigarette smoking may synergistically influence pituitary hormone production through the effects on neuropeptides produced either locally or systemic.