Dinan, T G, Scott, L V, Thakore, J et al. · Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2001 · DOI
This study tested whether a drug called buspirone can trigger the release of a hormone called prolactin, and whether a person's baseline stress hormone (cortisol) level affects this response. Fifty healthy volunteers received either buspirone or placebo in a blinded trial. The researchers found that buspirone did increase prolactin levels, and importantly, people with higher baseline cortisol levels showed a stronger prolactin response.
ME/CFS is characterized by neuroendocrine abnormalities, including altered HPA axis function and prolactin dysregulation. This study provides mechanistic insight into how baseline cortisol levels may influence neuroendocrine responses, which could help explain some of the hormonal abnormalities observed in ME/CFS patients. Understanding these relationships may inform future diagnostic or therapeutic approaches targeting the neuroendocrine system in ME/CFS.
This study was conducted in healthy volunteers, not ME/CFS patients, so the findings may not directly apply to the patient population. The study demonstrates correlation between cortisol and prolactin response, but does not prove that cortisol level causes the prolactin response or that this mechanism is relevant to ME/CFS pathophysiology. The clinical significance of these neuroendocrine changes remains unclear.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
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