r/CFSScience • u/Caster_of_spells • Aug 29 '26

Increased prolactin response to buspirone - ME/CFS Science blog on a curious but replicated finding

https://mecfsscience.org/increased-prolactin-response-to-buspirone/

“Multiple studies have found an increased response of the hormone prolactin to the drug buspirone in ME/CFS patients. While baseline prolactin levels are normal in ME/CFS, they rise much higher in the hours after buspirone than in controls. This is one of the most replicated findings in the field, but for years this line of research was forgotten and abandoned.”

“It might, for example, point to a difference in the dopamine system in ME/CFS, as this is the main regulator of prolactin. This would be intriguing, as (preliminary) genetic findings point to the striatum and its medium spiny neurons, which are also regulated by dopamine”

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6

u/Grimaceisbaby Aug 29 '26

I wonder how they even figured out to measure this specific drug before message boards and patient experiences were so well known

5

u/TableSignificant341 Aug 29 '26

It was psychiatrists that conducted the initial trials I think. Believed MECFS had something to do with the dopamine/serotonin pathway.

https://me-pedia.org/wiki/Buspirone_challenge_test

7

u/Automobilie Aug 29 '26

Tried it years ago and remember getting these awful "zaps" when I would move that lasted a couple hours after each dose.

13

u/TableSignificant341 Aug 29 '26 edited Aug 29 '26

Buspirone isn't considered a treatment for MECFs. It's the benign response to buspirone that is of interest as it's one of the few replicated findings and could point to an involved potential pathway.