The Lower Prolactin Serum Level Is a Characteristic of Anorexia Nervosa with Depression

This study was designed to explore the relationship between anorexia nervosa and depression and to evaluate the role that endocrine hormones play in anorexia nervosa with functional hypothalamic amenorrhea and comorbid depression. In this study, thyroid hormones and sex hormones were compared between 30 first-episode drug-naive female patients with anorexia nervosa with depression (AND), and 20 female patients with anorexia nervosa with no depression (ANND). There were no differences between anorexia nervosa participants with and without depression in thyroid hormones levels. Patients with AND had significantly lower prolactin serum levels; patients with AND had a median [P25, P75] prolactin level of 213.0 uIU/ml [12.1-268.2] vs. 446.6 uIU/ml [119.1-35.5] for patients with ANND. There were no differences in other sex hormones between the two groups. Our data suggested that a lower prolactin serum level is a characteristic of first-episode neuroleptic-naive patients with AND.