Skip to main content
Log in

The relationship between serum prolactin levels and cognitive function in drug-naïve schizophrenia patients: a cross-sectional study

  • Psychiatry and Preclinical Psychiatric Studies - Original Article
  • Published:
Journal of Neural Transmission Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the association between serum prolactin levels and psychiatric symptoms and cognitive function in drug-naïve schizophrenia patients. The study recruited 91 drug-naïve schizophrenia patients and 67 healthy controls. Sociodemographic and clinical data were collected, and cognitive function was assessed using the Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia (MATRICS) Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB). Serum prolactin levels were measured, and statistical analyses were performed to examine the relationship between prolactin levels, clinical symptoms, and cognitive function. The study found that drug-naïve schizophrenia patients had severe cognitive deficits compared to healthy controls across all seven domains of the MCCB. However, no correlation was found between these patients’ serum prolactin levels and clinical severity or cognitive function. The drug-naïve schizophrenia patients had significant cognitive deficits compared to healthy controls. However, there was no significant relationship between prolactin levels and symptomatology and cognition in drug-naïve schizophrenia patients.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

The data used in this study are not publicly available.

References

  • Aringhieri S et al (2018) Molecular targets of atypical antipsychotics: from mechanism of action to clinical differences. Pharmacol Ther 192:20–41

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brisman MH, Fetell MR, Post KD (1993) Reversible dementia due to macroprolactinoma. Case report. J Neurosurg 79(1):135–137

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Degl’Innocenti A et al (1999) The influence of prolactin response to d-fenfluramine on executive functioning in major depression. Biol Psychiatry 46(4):512–517

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fan F et al (2019) Subcortical structures and cognitive dysfunction in first episode schizophrenia. Psychiatry Res Neuroimaging 286:69–75

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Fitzgerald P, Dinan TG (2008) Prolactin and dopamine: what is the connection? A review article. J Psychopharmacol 22(2 Suppl):12–19

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • García RR, Aliste F, Soto G (2018) Social cognition in schizophrenia: cognitive and neurobiological aspects. Rev Colomb Psiquiatr (engl Ed) 47(3):170–176

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hagi K et al (2021) Association between cardiovascular risk factors and cognitive impairment in people with schizophrenia: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Psychiat 78(5):510–518

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Havelka D et al (2016) Cognitive impairment and cortisol levels in first-episode schizophrenia patients. Stress 19(4):383–389

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Herceg M et al (2020) Correlation between prolactin and symptom profile in acute admitted women with recurrent schizophrenia. Psychiatr Danub 32(3–4):367–372

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ittig S et al (2017) Sex differences in prolactin levels in emerging psychosis: indication for enhanced stress reactivity in women. Schizophr Res 189:111–116

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jones AS et al (2021) Prolactin ordering patterns in psychiatric inpatients and the impact this has on patient management. Australas Psychiatry 29(3):282–285

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jose J et al (2015) Association between prolactin and thyroid hormones with severity of psychopathology and suicide risk in drug free male schizophrenia. Clin Chim Acta 444:78–80

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kay SR, Fiszbein A, Opler LA (1987) The positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS) for schizophrenia. Schizophr Bull 13(2):261–276

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Labad J (2019) The role of cortisol and prolactin in the pathogenesis and clinical expression of psychotic disorders. Psychoneuroendocrinology 102:24–36

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lim K et al (2021) Large-scale evaluation of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) symptom architecture in schizophrenia. Asian J Psychiatr 62:102732

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Marken PA, Haykal RF, Fisher JN (1992) Management of psychotropic-induced hyperprolactinemia. Clin Pharm 11(10):851–856

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McGregor C, Riordan A, Thornton J (2017) Estrogens and the cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia: Possible neuroprotective mechanisms. Front Neuroendocrinol 47:19–33

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Miller R (2009) Mechanisms of action of antipsychotic drugs of different classes, refractoriness to therapeutic effects of classical neuroleptics, and individual variation in sensitivity to their actions: part I. Curr Neuropharmacol 7(4):302–314

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Montalvo I et al (2014) Increased prolactin levels are associated with impaired processing speed in subjects with early psychosis. PLoS One 9(2):e89428

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Montalvo I et al (2018) Improvement in cognitive abilities following cabergoline treatment in patients with a prolactin-secreting pituitary adenoma. Int Clin Psychopharmacol 33(2):98–102

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Moore L et al (2013) Serum testosterone levels are related to cognitive function in men with schizophrenia. Psychoneuroendocrinology 38(9):1717–1728

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mortimer AM (2007) Relationship between estrogen and schizophrenia. Expert Rev Neurother 7(1):45–55

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Penadés R et al (2015) The search for new biomarkers for cognition in schizophrenia. Schizophr Res Cogn 2(4):172–178

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Puljic K et al (2021) The association between prolactin concentration and aggression in female patients with schizophrenia. World J Biol Psychiatry 22(4):301–309

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rajkumar RP (2014) Prolactin and psychopathology in schizophrenia: a literature review and reappraisal. Schizophr Res Treat 2014:175360

    Google Scholar 

  • Sheffield JM, Karcher NR, Barch DM (2018) Cognitive deficits in psychotic disorders: a lifespan perspective. Neuropsychol Rev 28(4):509–533

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Shi C et al (2013) An ecologically valid performance-based social functioning assessment battery for schizophrenia. Psychiatry Res 210(3):787–793

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shi C et al (2015) The MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB): co-norming and standardization in China. Schizophr Res 169(1–3):109–115

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Shi C et al (2019) What is the optimal neuropsychological test battery for schizophrenia in China? Schizophr Res 208:317–323

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Voráčková V et al (2021) Cognitive profiles of healthy siblings of first-episode schizophrenia patients. Early Interv Psychiatry 15(3):554–562

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vuk Pisk S et al (2019) Hyperprolactinemia—side effect or part of the illness. Psychiatr Danub 31(Suppl 2):148–152

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wasnik V et al (2019) Serum prolactin level and its correlation with psychopathology in drug free/drug naïve schizophrenia a case control study. Asian J Psychiatr 39:1–5

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yao S et al (2017) Cognitive function and serum hormone levels are associated with gray matter volume decline in female patients with prolactinomas. Front Neurol 8:742

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang XY et al (2002) Risperidone-induced increase in serum prolactin is correlated with positive symptom improvement in chronic schizophrenia. Psychiatry Res 109(3):297–302

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang X et al (2020) Glucose disturbances, cognitive deficits and white matter abnormalities in first-episode drug-naive schizophrenia. Mol Psychiatry 25(12):3220–3230

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu MH et al (2022) Amisulpride augmentation therapy improves cognitive performance and psychopathology in clozapine-resistant treatment-refractory schizophrenia: a 12-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Mil Med Res 9(1):59

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Yuying Qiu, Yongping Zhao, Shu Yang, Siying Kong, Ying Gao, Xiaoxiao Sun, Jiayue Wang, and Yeqing Dong from Tianjin Anding Hospital for their assistance in collecting the data.

Funding

This work was supported by the Tianjin Key Medical Discipline (Specialty) Construction Project (TJYXZDXK-033A), and the hospital-level project by Tianjin Anding Hospital (ADYKHT2021012). These funding sources had no other role in the study design, data collection, statistical analysis, drafting of the report, or submission of the paper for publication.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

GL and JL were responsible for the study design, statistical analysis, and manuscript preparation. FB, XQ, XZ, YJ, SW, ZX, CY, and ML were accountable for the data acquisition and editing of the manuscript. All the authors contributed to and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jie Li.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Luo, G., Bai, F., Qu, X. et al. The relationship between serum prolactin levels and cognitive function in drug-naïve schizophrenia patients: a cross-sectional study. J Neural Transm 131, 385–391 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-024-02748-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-024-02748-4

Keywords

Navigation