Abnormal catecholamine mechanisms in hypothalamic-pituitary disorders.

Patients with growth hormone or prolactin-secreting pituitary tumors failed to show normal plasma catecholamine (especially norepinephrine) responses to oral bromocriptine. These patients had normal basal plasma catecholamine concentrations. Patients with anorexia nervosa had low basal levels of dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine. These data are consistent with disordered catecholamine metabolism in patients with these neuroendocrine disorders.