Authors : Madhur Gupta, Milind Borkar, Suresh Chari
Volume : 4
Issue : 8
Year : 2017
Page No : 1669-1671
Introduction: Prolactin (PRL) has been implicated in keratinocyte hyperproliferation and thus may have an effect on the etiopathogenesis of psoriasis. Researchers have reported inconsistent data on the levels of serum prolactin in patients with chronic plaque type of psoriasis vulgaris (PV) depending on the PASI scale (severity index), with very few studies specifically on males. The present study was carried out to evaluate the serum levels of prolactin in male patients with PV depending on the PASI scale. Material and Methods: A case control study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital. After IEC approval, 50 patients newly diagnosed males of PV were compared with 50 normal healthy controls for levels of prolactin. Serum prolactin was measured by enzyme linked fluorescence assay. Results: Serum prolactin was significantly raised (p<0.001) in patients with PV when compared with healthy controls. The levels were also significant (p<0.001) in patients when compared to the severity of the disease. Conclusion: Prolactin does seem to play a role in the pathogenesis of psoriasis and may serve as a biological marker of disease activity in patients with psoriasis. However further studies with large sample size should be carried out so as to validate this hypothesis. Keywords: Prolactin, Psoriasis Vulgaris, Males