The Role of Prolactin in the Regulation of Male Copulatory Behavior

Abstract

In developed countries, the elderly population increases at an accelerated rate due to a decrease in the birth rate and the prolongation of life through medical development. Moreover, increases in the elderly population allow the prediction of an increase in hyperprolactinemia caused by aging. It is well known that hyperprolactinemia decreases libido and causes oligozoospermia [1]. On the other hand, hyperprolactinemia is caused by or associated with, a variety of pathogenic stages: pituitary adenoma, hypothalamic disorders, hypogonadism and hypothyroidism, and is detected in patients with infertility [2, 3], impotence and hypogonadism [4]. PRL is a polypeptide hormone that is synthesized and secreted from mammotropes in the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland [5]. Many studies have documented a critical role of PRL in the maintenance of lactation in women and female animals [6, 7] as well as in immunregulation in both, males and females [8], however, its role in sexual behavior is not entirely clear [9-16].