Multiple sclerosis attacks triggered by hyperprolactinemia

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a T-cell autoimmune disease of the central nervous system (CNS). Predominance of women in autoimmune diseases suggests that sex hormones may play a role in disease susceptibility. A possible role for prolactin, a neuroendocrine peptide with powerful immunomodulatory properties, is suggested in MS. We describe the case of a 32-year-old man affected by relapsing-remitting MS who experienced the first MS clinical event during the development of a prolactin-secreting adenoma and the only two MS relapses during adenoma recurrence. Prolactin may have facilitated the inflammatory process and triggered MS clinical attacks, suggesting a role of prolactin in immunomodulation and therefore in autoimmune disease course.