Pneumomediastinum in anorexia nervosa.

repeated after one week. Four of the patients were postmenopausal; the other six were studied during the same phase of the menstrual cycle on both occasions. Basal plasma prolactin levels were normal in all patients before and during treatment with diazepam. Metoclopramide produced a marked increase in plasma prolactin levels maximal 30 min after injection. An analysis of variance of the log transforms of the plasma prolactin levels showed no significant difference before and during diazepam treatment. The overall trend was also constant at each time before and during diazepam treatment. It is therefore concluded that diazepam does not affect basal prolactin levels or the release of prolactin in response to the dopamine antagonist metoclopramide. This finding compares with earlier reports, which showed that growth hormone production, pituitary-adrenal function,5 and thyroid function6 are unaffected by diazepam.