At a glance
| Analyte | Prolactin |
|---|---|
| Also called | PRL |
| Method | Two-site sandwich chemiluminescence immunoassay |
| Sample type | Serum, Plasma |
| Panel | Fertility |
| Discipline | CLIA immunoassay |
| Brand | Mindray |
What Prolactin measures
Prolactin is a pituitary hormone whose best-known role is in lactation, but it is measured chiefly in the investigation of irregular or absent periods, infertility, unexplained milk production and suspected pituitary disease. It is also raised by a long list of commonly prescribed drugs, which is often the explanation for a mildly elevated result and should be established before anything else is pursued. Its distinguishing feature in the laboratory is how readily it responds to stress: the physical stress of a difficult venepuncture can raise it, so a borderline result is frequently repeated under calmer conditions before being acted on.
How Philippine laboratories run it
Requested by gynaecology, fertility and endocrinology services. The collection conditions are the practical issue and they are within the laboratory’s control rather than the clinician’s: prolactin is best drawn with the patient rested, not immediately after a stressful or repeated attempt at venepuncture. Philippine laboratories with busy walk-in collection areas will see borderline elevations that resolve on a calmer repeat, and building that guidance into the collection procedure prevents a certain amount of unnecessary follow-up. A drug history is worth having attached to the request.
Analyzers it runs on
Calibrator, controls and companion tests
Delivered with the rest of the fertility panel, on the same schedule as Prolactin.
Storage and handling
Refrigerated, upright, and not frozen.
Buying Prolactin in the Philippines
Prolactin is supplied for the CL-2600i and CL-900i. We deliver it with FSH and Estradiol, because a run held up waiting on a separate order costs the same shift a stock-out does. Delivery is scheduled against your monthly Prolactin count, so the bench is not rationing tests in the last week of the month. How we plan clia immunoassay supply.
Questions about Prolactin
Why is a mildly raised prolactin often repeated?
Because prolactin responds to stress, including the stress of a difficult venepuncture, so a borderline elevation may reflect the collection rather than the patient. A repeat taken with the patient rested frequently returns to normal. Several commonly prescribed drugs also raise it, so a drug history is usually reviewed before anything further is pursued.
Order Prolactin
Tell us your monthly Prolactin volume and we will quote a supply schedule for CL-2600i. We reply within one business day.
Request a quotation