Specimen Collection Manual and Test Catalog

2 mL of serum or plasma; minimum 1.5 mL.

Eight-hour fasting is preferred. For premenopausal women, collection in early follicular cycle (before day 10) is recommended. In addition, no nipple stimulation or intercourse 24 hours prior to lab collection.

Allow serum to clot. Centrifuge to separate serum or plasma within 2 hours of collection.

Refrigerated (preferred) or frozen.

Refrigerated: 14 days. Frozen: 6 months.

Stability limits exceeded.

Females 0 to 55 years: 4.8-30 ng/mL 
Females > 55 years: 4.0-20 ng/mL
Males: 4.0-20 ng/mL

HAMA (Human Anti-Mouse Antibodies) interfere with this test. Patients who have been treated with Mouse Monoclonal Antibodies should not be tested with this procedure.

Prolactin. Dilutions of 10-fold and 100-fold are performed but not reported. The prolactin results obtained from these dilutions are compared to the neat result. Analytical artifacts are ruled out if the bias is within 20%.

PROLDS

Prolactin-secreting macroadenomas may produce markedly high prolactin levels, causing an analytical artifact that results in underestimated prolactin measurements. This test is useful for patients exhibiting symptoms of prolactinoma due to the presence of a pituitary tumor, especially when initial prolactin studies show unexpectedly low results. The test incorporates dilution studies to detect and eliminate the analytical artifact.