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Intel Lab Diagnostics Dubai
Single Biomarker

Prolactin

Milk & Fertility Hormone

Prolactin is a pituitary hormone primarily known for stimulating breast milk production. Elevated levels in non-pregnant individuals can cause menstrual irregularities, infertility, and may indicate a pituitary tumour.

BLOOD24 HOURSNO FASTING
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  • Free home collection
  • Physician-reviewed report

24 Hours

Turnaround

Blood

Sample

About This Test

What the Prolactin test tells you

Prolactin is made by the front part of the pituitary gland and is best known for enabling milk production after childbirth. It is unusual among pituitary hormones in that the brain mainly holds it back rather than pushing it out: dopamine travelling down from the hypothalamus keeps prolactin suppressed most of the time. Anything that interrupts that dopamine brake (a medication that blocks dopamine, pressure on the pituitary stalk, or a growth in the pituitary that produces prolactin directly) allows the level to rise.

When prolactin is persistently raised outside pregnancy and breastfeeding, it interferes with the pulsed signal that drives the ovaries and testes. The consequences are recognisable: periods that become infrequent or stop, difficulty conceiving, reduced libido, erectile difficulty in men, and sometimes milk production in someone who is not breastfeeding. This is why prolactin is part of the standard set of tests when periods stop unexpectedly or when conception is proving difficult, even in people who have no symptoms pointing to the pituitary at all.

The practical difficulty with prolactin is that it responds to ordinary events. It rises with sleep, with a meal, with exercise, with breast or nipple stimulation, and with the stress of the needle itself, so a modestly raised result is common and often means nothing. For that reason a first raised result is usually repeated under calm, rested conditions before anything follows from it. Medication review comes next, since several widely used drugs raise prolactin as an expected effect, as does an underactive thyroid. Only when a raised level persists without one of these explanations does the pituitary itself become the focus, at which point imaging rather than more blood tests answers the question.

Sample type
Blood
Measured in
ng/mL
Turnaround
24 Hours
Fasting
Not required
Best for
Adults planning a family
Why Get Tested?

Ordered for menstrual irregularities, galactorrhea, infertility, erectile dysfunction, or when a pituitary tumour is suspected on imaging.

  • Periods that stop unexpectedly

    Raised prolactin suppresses the hormone signal to the ovaries, and is one of the treatable causes of periods becoming infrequent or stopping altogether.

  • Difficulty conceiving

    Prolactin is part of the routine fertility hormone panel because a raised level can prevent ovulation while producing few other symptoms.

  • Unexpected milk production

    Milk from the breast in someone who is not breastfeeding is the classic reason to measure prolactin, in both women and men.

  • Suspected pituitary problem

    Persistent headaches, changes in vision or a pituitary abnormality seen on imaging prompt a prolactin measurement as part of the assessment.

When This Test Is Ordered

Reasons your doctor may request the Prolactin test

Your doctor may order this test for any of the reasons below. Some are routine checks, others follow specific symptoms or an earlier result.

  • Periods, milk production & libido

    • Periods that have become infrequent or have stopped without an obvious explanation.
    • Milk production from the breast outside pregnancy and breastfeeding.
    • Reduced libido, erectile difficulty or low testosterone in a man.

  • Fertility assessment

    • Difficulty conceiving, as part of a baseline hormone assessment.

  • Pituitary assessment & follow-up

    • Headaches or visual changes where a pituitary lesion is being considered.
    • Monitoring a known pituitary adenoma or its treatment.
Preparation
The short version
No prep needed.
  • Blood
  • Free home collection
  • No fasting
  • Results in 24 Hours
  1. 1
    Book any time

    No fasting window: pick any slot that suits you, online or on WhatsApp.

  2. 2
    We come to you

    A DHA-licensed nurse collects your sample at home or in the office: free home collection.

  3. 3
    Results in 24 Hours

    A physician-reviewed, easy-to-read report lands securely by WhatsApp and email.

Prep note
Physician reviewed

Prolactin is easily disturbed by ordinary things, so a little care makes the result more meaningful.

Attend after you have been awake for a few hours rather than immediately on waking, since the level is naturally higher during sleep. Avoid vigorous exercise and any breast or nipple stimulation beforehand, including a tight chest strap or a breast examination on the same morning.

A light meal is acceptable but a heavy one is best avoided; fasting is not required. Sit quietly for a short while before the sample is taken, because the stress of the needle alone can lift the result.

Bring a list of your medications (several common antipsychotics, antidepressants and anti-sickness drugs raise prolactin as an expected effect) and mention pregnancy, breastfeeding, or any thyroid condition. If the result is mildly raised, expect your doctor to repeat it under calm conditions rather than act on it straight away.

Understanding Your Results

A result in the Normal band, 2 to 18 ng/mL, is the usual adult finding and needs no action. A High result, 19 to 200 ng/mL, means prolactin is raised, which can disturb periods, fertility and libido, though a mildly raised figure often reflects the blood draw itself rather than a disorder. Prolactin climbs with the stress of the needle, with recent sleep, exercise, a meal and nipple stimulation, and it is high throughout pregnancy and breastfeeding, where that is expected. Medicines that block dopamine (antipsychotics, some antidepressants and anti-sickness drugs) are a frequent cause, as is an underactive thyroid. An inactive bound form can also give a raised reading in someone with no symptoms, which the laboratory checks. A first raised result is therefore repeated under rested conditions. Your doctor reads it with your medicines, your thyroid, your symptoms and history.

SmartReport
18
Healthy zone10ng/mLNormal
Reference ranges · ng/mL
Normal
Within a typical adult range.
2–18
High
Elevated: may affect periods or fertility. Consult your physician.
19–200

Ranges are a guide: your physician interprets your result alongside your symptoms and history.

Reading a High or Low Result

  • What a higher result can point to

    • Pregnancy and breastfeeding, in which a high prolactin is entirely expected and physiological.
    • Medications that block dopamine, including several antipsychotics, some antidepressants, and anti-sickness drugs such as metoclopramide and domperidone.
    • A prolactin-producing pituitary adenoma, which is the commonest hormone-secreting pituitary tumour.
    • An underactive thyroid, which raises prolactin indirectly and resolves once the thyroid is treated.
    • Stress at the time of the blood draw, recent sleep, exercise, a meal, or nipple and chest wall stimulation.
    • Chronic kidney disease or advanced liver disease, which slow the clearance of prolactin from the blood.

  • What a lower result can point to

    • Treatment with a dopamine agonist, the medication used specifically to bring prolactin down.
    • Extensive pituitary damage from a large tumour, surgery, radiotherapy or head injury, usually alongside other low pituitary hormones.
    • Pituitary injury following severe blood loss around childbirth, which can affect prolactin among other hormones.

These are possibilities, not diagnoses. A single value outside the reference range is interpreted alongside your symptoms, history and other tests: your doctor decides what it means for you.

Limitations & Safety

What this test cannot tell you

  • Prolactin rises with the stress of venepuncture, with recent sleep, exercise, a meal and breast stimulation, so a mildly raised result is often repeated under rested conditions before it carries any weight.
  • An inactive bound form of prolactin can give a raised reading in someone with no symptoms at all; laboratories check for this before an unexpected result is acted upon.
  • Very high concentrations can occasionally read misleadingly low unless the sample is retested after dilution, which the laboratory arranges when the clinical picture does not fit.
  • A raised prolactin identifies a problem but not its cause; separating medication, thyroid disease and a pituitary lesion needs a medication review, thyroid tests and usually imaging.

Risks of the blood draw

  • Mild bruising or brief soreness where the needle went in.
  • Occasional lightheadedness, which settles after a few minutes of rest.
  • Bleeding or infection at the site, which is rare with sterile single-use equipment.
Key Points
  • 1Prolactin is held down by dopamine from the brain, so anything blocking that brake raises it.
  • 2A mildly raised result is common and frequently reflects the circumstances of the blood draw rather than a disorder.
  • 3A first raised result is normally repeated under rested conditions before any conclusion is drawn.
  • 4Medications and an underactive thyroid are checked before the pituitary is investigated.
  • 5A low prolactin is rarely investigated on its own and usually matters only alongside other low pituitary hormones.
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Frequently Asked Questions

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Yes, and this is one of the most common reasons for a mildly raised result. Anxiety about the needle, rushing to the appointment, exercise, a recent meal or breast stimulation can all lift the level temporarily. This is exactly why a raised result is usually repeated in calmer conditions before it is taken to mean anything.