Suppression of prolactin secretion in normal young women by 2-hydroxyestrone.

The nonuterotropic natural estrogen 2-hydroxyestrone administered to normal young women results in a prompt and profound suppression of serum prolactin in most of the subjects. With the exception of dopamine, this is the only endogenous material known to strongly inhibit prolactin secretion, and its action suggests that the physiological regulation of prolactin by estrogens in the human is dual in nature, consisting of stimulation by estradiol and inhibition by its catechol estrogen metabolite.