A study of serum prolactin in dermatological diseases in a tertiary care hospital of Assam

Background: Prolactin functions as a neuroendocrine modulator of the skin immune system and epithelial cell proliferation. Prolactin and the immune system inter relationship have been studied extensively and opened new avenues in the field of immunoendocrinology. Prolactin may have an important role in some dermatological diseases like psoriasis, alopecia areata, and vitiligo. We aim to estimate serum prolactin values in patients of psoriasis, alopecia areata and vitiligo and compare it with healthy controls and also evaluate the correlation between serum prolactin levels and severity of the diseases. Methods: We performed a case–control study on 200 subjects which include 150 patients; suffering from psoriasis, alopecia areata and vitiligo; 50 patients in each group and 50 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. The serum prolactin level was measured in patients and control groups using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results: Serum prolactin levels were significantly high in all three dermatological diseases in comparison with the control group (P <0.05). The mean ± SD of the serum prolactin levels was 19.2 ± 6.7 ng/ml, 20.6± 6.9 ng/ml, and 16.4 ± 6.2 ng/ml in patients with psoriasis, alopecia areata, and vitiligo respectively. Moreover the serum prolactin levels in patients with psoriasis and alopecia areata were significantly correlated with disease severity (P <0.05). Conclusions: Prolactin may play a role in the pathogenesis of psoriasis, alopecia areata, and vitiligo; and may serve as a biochemical marker of disease severity in patients with psoriasis and alopecia areata.