Bromocriptine: effect on serum prolactin and growth hormone in psychogeriatric hospital patients

Serum prolactin (PRL) and human growth hormone (HGH) were assessed before, and three hours after oral administration of 2.5 mg of bromocriptine in 39 hospitalized geriatric patients with organic brain syndrome. Serum PRL concentrations decreased significantly irrespective of initial values (also in the 7 geriatric control subjects), but HGH levels were low in all patients and did not change during the three hours after administration of bromocriptine. Closer scrutiny of the HGH responses to bromocriptine in 5 patients and 5 controls showed that the serum HGH response was more variable among the patients than among the controls. The findings are discussed in relation to neuroendocrine changes associated with aging, institutional living, and mental disease.