[Prolactin: estimation and interest in clinical biology (author's transl)].

The recent development of radio-immunoassay of prolactin has permitted, in recent years, better understanding of its role in hormone regulation. In man, the secretion of prolactin is submitted to physiological variations dependent on sex, age and also environment. It is also modified by numerous drugs. Certain of them are used during stimulation tests and inhibition tests of the pituitary gland. The determination of basic prolactinemia and during dynamic tests is now a factor in basic diagnosis for the clinician who now has available efficacious chemotherapy (derived from rye ergot) in the treatment of hyperprolactinemia.