Drug-induced alterations of the hypothalamus-hypophysis axis

Omitting hormonal variations caused by other drugs already objects of research, the behaviour pattern of GH, PRL, TSH, following acute administration of cimetidine, nomifensine, domperidone has been considered in normal subjects, in patients with pituitary non-secreting and PRL-secreting adenomas and in patients with amenorrhea-galactorrhea syndrome without evidence of adenoma. The results confirm the influence which drugs employed in the therapy of non-endocrine diseases provide a way to alter the functions of the hypothalamus, sometimes relatively specifically, and the secretion of pituitary hormones provides us with a possibility of analyzing the CNS output.