Prolactin is produced from the anterior pituitary gland, it's found in the serum of normal females and males. Prolactin's principal physiological action is to initiate and sustain lactation.

Note that prolactin secretion is pulsatile and also shows diurnal variation, with the serum concentration increasing during sleep and their lowest ~3 hours after waking. The secretion of prolactin is increased by stress and is dependent upon a women's oestrogen status.

The analysis of prolactin can be used for the diagnosis and treatment of disorders of the anterior pituitary gland or the hypothalamus. The hetergenous sandwich magnetic separation assay (MSA) by the Bayer Corporation for the Technicon Immuno 1^® System measures serum prolactin, by detecting the activity of the alkaline phosphatase-labelled anti­prolactin antibody.

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