Hyperprolactinemia and female infertility.

Hyperprolactinemia is a common endocrine cause of infertility in women. The pathophysiology of hyperprolactinemia in infertility is understood incompletely; however, the adverse effects of high circulating levels of prolactin on the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis cause chronic anovulation and other defects of ovarian function. Mechanisms for prolactin-induced anovulation have been postulated, and there are several contemporary approaches to the diagnosis and treatment of prolactin-secreting pituitary adenomas.