# HYPERPROLACTINEMIC AMENORRHEA AND OSTEOPENIA OF AGING

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF IOWA · 1989 · $100,624

## Abstract

Osteoporosis is a debilitating illness and is a major health problem in
elderly women.  Two major factors have limited the study of osteroporsis -
the inability to detect the disease in an early stage and the heterogeneous
nature of the patients affected.  Women with prolactin secreting pituitary
tumors have decreased bone mineral and for the most part these tumors
affect young women.  This relatively uniform group of young individuals
affords an opportunity to study osteopenia in an early stage and to analyze
factors that may cause bone loss in older women.  The goal of this project
is to begin to elucidate the mechanisms of osteopenia in women with
hyperprolactinemic amenorrhea and to determine if pathogenetic mechanisms
thought to be responsible for postmenopausal and senile osteoporosis are
operative in younger women.  We will use serial determinations of spinal
and forearm bone mineral to determine rates of bone loss in healthy
subjects, in amenorrheic women with and without hyperprolactinemia and in
postmenopausal women.  We will use calcium balance studies, urinary
hydroxyproline determinations and bone histomorphometry as indices of bone
turnover and will determine whether normalization of serum prolactin and
restoration of menstrual cycles is associated with a change in these
biochemical indices.  We will utilize parathyroid hormone infusions to
determine whether osteopenia is due to enhanced sensitivity of bone to PTH
or whether decreased renal production of 1,25 (OH)2 vitamin D and calcium
malabsorption are the major factors in bone loss.  Finally, we will
determine if normalization of serum prolactin and menstrual cycles is
associated with prevention or reversal of bone loss.  The identification of
a factor or factors that might contribute to the development of
osteoporosis in young womem would provide insight into mechanisms that may
have important application to the prevention of this illness in the elderly.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3157567
- **Project number:** 5R01AR036384-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF IOWA
- **SAM.gov UEI:** Z1H9VJS8NG16
- **Principal Investigator:** JANET A. SCHLECHTE
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1989
- **Award amount:** $100,624
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1985-08-01 → 1991-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3157567

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3157567, HYPERPROLACTINEMIC AMENORRHEA AND OSTEOPENIA OF AGING (5R01AR036384-05). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-24 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3157567. Licensed CC0.

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