Cabergoline treatment in hyperprolactinaemic women

Cabergoline is a new dopaminergic ergot derivative, which has been shown to induce a strong and long lasting prolactin inhibition in experimental animals and humans. The aim of our study was to investigate the effectiveness of cabergoline in the treatment of 26 hyperprolactinaemic patients. The drug was administered orally for 8 weeks, initially 0-8 mg/week or 1-2 mg/week for 3 weeks and 0-8 mg/week for the following 5 weeks, patients being assigned at random to the two regimens. Serum prolactin levels decreased (P<001) in most of the patients after the first week of treatment and reached normal values (range 5-25 ng/ml) within 8 weeks in 20 (77 per cent); four patients (15 per cent) had a greater reduction and two (8 per cent) had a reduction to less than 50 per cent of the basal values. Cabergoline was well tolerated and was very effective in lowering prolactin levels in hyperprolactinaemic patients. It appears to be appropriate for long term treatment.