Serum prolactin levels and Behçet disease.

PURPOSE: To evaluate serum prolactin levels in Behçet disease (BD) and correlate with phenotypic expression of the disease.

METHODS

This was a prospective, nonrandomized comparative trial. Twenty-two patients fulfilling BD Research Committee criteria and 21 healthy control subjects were included. Patients were classified in complete-type or incomplete-type BD subgroups according to clinical characteristics such as recurrent oral ulcers, genital ulcers, skin lesions, and ocular disease. Age, sex, HLA phenotyping, and therapy were recorded for comparative analysis between groups. Serum prolactin levels were determined by electrochemiluminescence immunoassay on a Modular Analytics E170 analyzer.

RESULTS

Prolactinemia was significantly higher (mean=19.34 ng/mL) in BD patients vs controls (mean=9.83 ng/mL) (p=0.009). This value was also statistically higher in complete-type BD sub-group vs controls (p=0.02). Younger patients (<30 y) required corticosteroids plus immunosuppressives more often (75%), suggesting an association between age and disease severity, al-though not statistically significant.

CONCLUSIONS

Results suggest the role of prolactin in BD pathogenesis and its association with disease expression, especially in complete-type BD.