The Association between Prolactin, High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein and Framingham Risk Score in Menopause

Abstract

Aims: To evaluate the association between serum prolactin, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels and cardiovascular disease risk in postmenopausal women regarding the Framingham Risk Score (FRS). Methods: Fifty-eight menopausal women were enrolled into the cross-sectional study. All participants had 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, echocardiography, electrocardiography, and carotid intima-media thickness measurement. Blood samples were obtained for prolactin, hs-CRP, lipid profile, fasting glucose, and insulin. Results: Among the participants, 67.24% had a FRS <10%, and 32.75% had a FRS ≥10%. Levels of prolactin and hs-CRP did not differ between the FRS groups. In the FRS <10% group, significantly higher levels of prolactin were found. Cases with hypertension have significantly higher levels of hs-CRP. Prolactin and hs-CRP were found to be associated with hypertension in the FRS <10% and ≥10% groups, respectively. Conclusions: Hypertensive postmenopausal women with low risk for cardiovascular diseases have increased levels of prolactin, suggesting a possible role in the pathogenesis of hypertension. The correlation of hs-CRP with systolic blood pressure can be interpreted as a potential effect of hypertensive heart disease reflecting a state of high-risk milieu with elevated inflammatory markers.

Hyperprolactinaemia

“…However, the Framingham Heart Study did not find any association between CV risk and variation in PRL levels (when within the reference range) [135]. Furthermore, differences in PRL values have not been shown between women with different levels of CV risk [132].…”

“…It has been proposed that hyperprolactinaemia has cardiovascular actions, either direct or indirectly through hypogonadism [132,133]. PRL increases sympathetic tone and mediates chronotropic and vasoconstrictive effects; for this reason, it has been implicated in cardiovascular (CV) risk [132]. In women, PRL >8 µg/L was independently associated with risk of incident hypertension [134].…”

The Mediterranean Diet Benefit on Cardiovascular Hemodynamics and Erectile Function in Chronic Heart Failure Male Patients by Decoding Central and Peripheral Vessel Rheology

“…However, previous studies yield contradictory results. Subjects with untreated prolactinoma presented increased carotid IMT [31], whereas in premenopausal women high-normal prolactin levels were shown to correlate with lower carotid IMT [32]. In post mortem human coronary arteries obtained after endarterectomy, increased expression of prolactin receptor was found in advanced atherosclerotic arterial walls, whereas no expression was detected in non-significant atherosclerotic lesion, suggesting a modulating role of prolactin in atherosclerosis process [9].…”